White Feathers, Black Wings
by Dragon2920
Summary: I was a bird and a butterfly, a candle and a star all at once. I sailed on a breeze I could not feel and soared with my fellow souls. But I wanted more. I wanted to fight. That desire, that wish brought me to him and I will follow his path to the end. Even if it is not my own. [OC-insert with a twist]
1. Prologue: Light on the Wind

**Just a little idea I've been toying with for a while. May not continue it, might continue it, we'll see.**

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I was a bird and a butterfly, a candle and a star all at once. I sailed on a breeze I could not feel and soared with my fellow souls.

 _Rukh_ , they called to me when I asked our name. We fluttered as once, quivering as we grew nearer to our destination.

 _We are the will, the way and we follow the path we know._

 _We are lost souls found._

 _We are the guiding lights of the world._

 _Who do we guide?_ I inquired.

 _We guide the Kings, we guide the blessed, we guide those watched over by Solomon, for we are his will._

 _ **Solomon.**_

I latched onto the name, feeling my light shine just a little brighter. Yes. Great King Solomon, whose will we follow. We are his lambs saved from slaughter, the fruits of his labour. We are his subjects. He is our King.

We arrived and there he was, amongst a garden of jewels and gold, of blossoming treasures and gleaming gold roots.

We circled him in joy and he smiled. I watched as he reached out a finger and a lucky Rukh perched upon his hand delicately, quivering happily.

Yes, we followed our King Solomon and guided his subjects down his path.

 _What subjects?_ I wondered.

But I already knew. We were filled with wisdom, just waiting to be tapped into.

Faces, names, places, emotions flooded my mind. _Djinn. Light. Gleaming steel. Beautiful prisons. A red jewel. Kind eyes. A purple-haired boy._

 _Sorrow. Pain. Fear. Wrath._

 _So. Much. Hardship._

 _This is the path?_ I questioned. _These are the challenges they must face?_

 _Tears. Blood. Ache. War._

 _This is the path we must lead them down?_

My King glanced at me curiously.

 _Ignorant soul,_ they told me. _We are Solomon's Will. This is the path we must guide them down. This is our purpose._

 _Why?_

 _We are saved by our King. We are raised from the mist, given meaning, blessed by him. We are his Will._

I faltered. My wings dimmed.

 _A boy with a sword. A braid and a flute. Red hair and thick armour. A charismatic grin._

 _I want to fight._

The Rukh rushed to me.

 _Foolish_ , they said. _We are guides. We lead them forward and never interfere. We watch, we shine, we follow the path. Foolish soul, do not disown your King._

 _I want to fight_ , I insisted. _I want to fight with them._

 _Foolish. Ignorant. Insolent. Traitor._

 _I want to fight!_

A hint of grey, like a wisp of smoke, flashed across my wings and faded.

 _I want to fight._

Darker grey, like fresh ash, swirled in my core and sent the rest of the Rukh into a flurry.

 _Black_ , they called out. _Dark. There is darkness in your light._

 _I want to fight._

Like a sunshine through fog, Solomon reached out and parted the Rukh, holding his hand out to me.

Beckoned, I landed on his fingers and gazed up at him in awe.

"Little Rukh," he spoke, "what ails you so?"

 _I wish to fight_ , I answered.

"Why?" He lifted me to eye level.

 _I do not want to guide them down this path_ , I exclaimed. _I want to fight alongside them, to help them overcome it._

The edges of Solomon's eyes crinkled softly as he beamed. "You have a rare sort of determination, little lost one."

 _Does that mean I can fight?_ I was hopeful.

"How about this? If you grant my wish, I shall grant yours," he proposed. The Rukh around him shivered in excitement.

 _Wish?_

"Yes, a wish. And in return, I shall give you a suitable form. I shall grant you passage to their world and I shall give you power to fight for them with."

My light shimmered.

 _Yes_ , I cried. _Let me fight. What is my King's wish? I shall do whatever he desires._

"Protect my son," Solomon requested.

 _Son._

 _Solomon's Son._

Images and knowledge raced through my head.

 _Son of Solomon. Fourth Magi. Boy of Blue._

 _ **Aladdin.**_

"Yes," Solomon confirmed. "You see his path is a difficult one and friends will benefit him greatly. I cannot go to him yet but if I can send you, little lost one, perhaps my concern will be eased a bit. Protect him as a friend, little lost one, and I will grant your wish.

 _Oh, how kind our King is_ , the other Rukh praised, flittering about us. _How generous he is, how blessed we are to bear his will._

 _As my King wishes_ , I acquiesced.

He grinned.

I drifted off his fingers as he summoned a staff.

"My apologies," he added sheepishly, "but it seems I am not as strong as I used to be. As such, I cannot give you a perfect body. But I can give you power. You'll be like a Djinn but you will not be bound to any dungeon. If there comes a time when you need more power and are beside someone you undoubtedly trust, you may form a bond with them and unleash your true power but I cannot grant you the power to change back once this bond is formed."

He paused. "Hopefully you will never need to commit such an act. I'd much prefer you stay my son's companion, to be able to talk and laugh and cry with those you deem precious. So please, be prudent with this power. Emergencies only."

 _Yes_ , I agreed. I wished to fight for this cause, not die for it.

"What power would you like?"

I hesitated, unsure. But as I looked upon the glinting white of the other Rukh, an idea flashed through my head and Solomon nodded. "A splendid idea."

Then his brow creased as he thought hard. "Now then, where should I send you to?"

I waited patiently.

"Perhaps," he decided, "oh yes, I shall send you to the true beginning of this story. The first dungeon. Yes, that should do just fine."

He looked directly at me, something unknown brimming in his gaze. "Are you ready, little lost soul?"

 _Always._

"Then I wish you luck. Remember, you are my will, one of the Rukh. If you ever need help, do not shy away from asking me for it. I will always answer you."

 _Kind king_ , I told him.

He smiled mirthfully and waved his staff.

And, without my shining wings, I fell.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

When I awoke, I was greeted by a stone ceiling. Columns lined the walls and a musky scent of dust hung in the air.

There were four arches before me, light spilling through them harsh enough to make me shield my eyes.

' _Where am I?'_

I took a deep breath and steeled myself. This is the start. This is where I begin.

Solomon, lend me your guidance and protection. I'm going to need it.

Suddenly, a silent hum filled the air. Something within me stirred, like an ancient beast intrigued, and I turned.

A simple magic circle glowed on the ground behind me, amidst broken pillars. It lit up the back of the room and pulsed once, twice, thrice.

I quickly threw my arms in front of my face and squeezed my eyes shut as it gave off a final, blinding flash and settled.

I breathed heavily as my blood pumped in excitement.

' _Now is when you start moving forward, little lost one_ ,' I heard Solomon's voice murmur. ' _Stay true to the path and you will not stray. I wish you luck.'_

The light faded and I waited a few moments before lowering my arms.

There, in the centre of the circle, was a figure, perhaps the same size as me, I judged, climbing to its feet.

A human.

My eyes widened in shock as the purple-haired boy stood and stared back at me, my surprise clearly reflected in his golden eyes.

 _Sinbad_ , my mind whispered.

I met his gaze and my lips parted.

"Uh... what?"

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

 **Boom. Story. Enjoy. Pretty please review, I'd love any feedback you could offer. I don't actually have anyone to beta my stories, so any feedback or reviews would really help me make this story enjoyable for you.**

 **Until next time then,**

 **\- Dragon**


	2. Here There Be Dragons

**And another one! Ta-da~!**

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Sinbad.

Conqueror. King. Fated.

 _He looks as confused as I am._

"Who are you?" The boy questioned, shaking off his initial shock.

 _Yeah, a warning would've been nice..._

I said nothing, still considering how I wanted to play this. Aloof and mysterious? Innocent and ignorant? Lost?

 _Could I fool a man like him so easily?_

I didn't get the chance to answer him anyway. Within a few seconds, his eyes widened and, in a flash, he had darted straight past me and through the lit arches.

I spluttered in surprised and turned to sprint after him, using my arm to shield my eyes against the light as I burst out behind him. "Oi, wait just a se-!"

I could blame it on a few things. I could blame it on the light, blinding me briefly as I emerged from the little cave. I could blame it on the shock from seeing the future king without prior warning. I could even blame it on the fucking cliff itself for ending so quickly and suddenly just outside the little cave.

I could blame any of those factors, but the truth was that my body didn't react to my senses fast enough. I saw the edge of the cliff and I couldn't stop myself in time.

The ground disappeared from beneath my feet and I yelped as I shot straight over the edge.

 _Well, it's good to know your limits in a new body, I suppose..._

"Hey!"

Firm arms shot out and wrapped around my torso, yanking me back with enough force to knock the breath out of me for a few moments. Purple flashed in my peripheral and I landed on Sinbad with a grunt.

He moaned and I gaped.

 _Holy shit, that was way too much action for the first 30 seconds of my existence._

I hadn't been able to stop in time. This body was still new and I was still adjusting a bit. My King may have given me a strong, fast body, but I was still settling in it.

I grit my teeth. I suppose this dungeon would be a good exercise then. If I wanted to properly own this body, to move as freely as I needed, then I had to move around more in the initial stages. Like breaking in new shoes.

And if I was going to do so, it might as well be in a place as grand as this.

The dungeon took a beautiful form, an area of risen blocks of land, a light mist in the air, old thick vines up the sides of the dome-like room, waterfalls trickling from the landforms like overflowing wine glasses. The air was warm.

I briefly wondered where the light streamed from.

"Hey, not that I mind accomodating such a beautiful girl, but do you think you could get off me now?" Sinbad piped up from beneath me, snapping me out of my stupor.

Oh yeah.

I pushed off his stomach - _wow, abs_ \- ignoring his little pained 'oof' in response, and stood. I quickly offered him a hand too, and he took it hesitantly.

"Man, that could've been real bad," I grinned. "Thanks for the save."

"Don't mention it," Sinbad muttered curiously, taking a moment to look me over. He looked like he was gonna ask me something but was interrupted by the sounds of mens' screams somewhere below.

He stopped to look over the edge and I observed the way his face paled a bit. It's his first time in a dungeon, I realised quickly. That's what Solomon meant by the beginning.

Wait.

How many years would I have to wait for Aladdin then?!

I huddled over my hands, counting on my fingers and frantically tried to recall facts that would tell me how long until the fourth Magi would appear. 10 years? 20? 30? It seemed I no longer possessed all the knowledge available to the Rukh. I knew enough about the path I must follow but trivial things like age escaped me.

I sighed gloomily, rising to my feet. Man, I'm gonna have to get some patience real soon 'cause I'm not sure I can wait that long.

A small trail of White Rukh floated about me, some alighting on my shoulders and hair. I glanced at them. "Has he sent you to watch me?"

They did not answer.

"Get down," Sinbad called, grabbing my arm and yanking me down. The White Rukh fluttered away and a great red dragon swooped overhead. I gasped and settled into a low crouch once more, my hands clutched tight into fists.

My gaze tracked the winged creature as it flew down and crashed through a crowd of men on a lower cliff, kicking up a huge cloud of dust. I gaped.

Then I grinned.

The men were scattered and gone and I felt sorry for them, truly, but the thrill of battle raced through my veins and I tensed up in anticipation. It was an instant, a mere moment, but I wanted more of that feeling.

 _I want to fight._

"I don't know what you're doing here," Sinbad called as he leapt past me, "but be more careful!"

"Shut up, ponytail!" I gleefully yelled, straightening up. But I didn't jump, not yet. A quick survey of my surroundings formed a smirk on my face. Stepping forward, unnoticed by others, I waited for the right moment.

... _Now_.

With a quick whoop, I bared my teeth and leapt over the edge.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

Far below, Sinbad hefted a discarded spear in his hands, perched on a broken pillar, and glared down his target in determination. A single movement resulted in the spear blasting straight through the head of a dragon and he thought the look on the green-haired idiot's face priceless.

"You..." the soldier recognised him.

They were interrupted by a loud howl of joy from the sky.

Sinbad hadn't thought much of the girl he found in that room on the cliff. He was curious, yes, and he definitely wanted to know how she ended up here, but he'd placed the Dungeon as his priority. He figured that she'd at least be smart enough to take cover and protect herself.

He was so very wrong.

And he acknowledged his so-very-wrongness as he gazed up in amazement at the girl presenting herself again, this time clinging to the back of a very agitated baby dragon.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"Woooo-hoooo!" I howled as the dragon blazed past, one hand holding tight to its head and the other waving at them. The dragon bucked and spun and looped in an attempt to throw me but my grip was iron. I never wavered.

Nothing better than a death-defying ride to reinforce proper motor control in a brand new body.

Sure, this wasn't exactly what I was planning when I said 'move around' but it was working a peach.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"Who is that?" The soldier mumbled in shock.

"I don't know," Sinbad grinned, "but I'd love to meet her."

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

I was having the time of my life.

' _Ha! I love this world!_ ' I exclaimed to myself as I wrapped my arms around the dragon's neck and pulled. The dragon reared in response and crashed into another dragon, sending me flying.

I laughed at the thrill and flipped in midair, stretching my arm out. A small knife glinted in my hand and I dug it into the back of another dragon flying past, pushing it deep for a grip as the new dragon's momentum tugged me harshly in a new direction. It caterwauled in pain and faltered, dipping closer to the ground as I aimed for the two boys staring openly at me now.

Finally, I plunged another knife through its eye and leapt off mere seconds before it hit the ground. I took the brunt of the impact on my shoulder as I dive-rolled and came to a slow stop at their feet.

"Whew!" I puffed happily, rolling my shoulders to relieve tension. It seemed this body was pretty durable and flexible, if not very strong in the physical strength department. I cracked my neck and beamed.

"That was fun."

Sinbad burst into laughter. I blinked and looked at the Parthevian soldier, who didn't seem to know what to make of me.

"You're insane!" The green-haired boy burst out. I looked at him curiously. Ah, I think he looks much nicer as a man. _Still, he'll be brilliant in the future as a dragon._

Another dragon roared nearby and I perked up at the prospect of another ride but Sinbad reached out and took my hand before I could dart off again.

"We'd best move along," he told me with a smile, tugging me to my feet. I didn't argue and neither did the soldier as we fled the scene.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"So, how did you get into this Dungeon before I did? I'm sure I was ahead of you," Sinbad questioned the green-haired boy - _Dragul, Drakon_ , my mind supplied - as they moved.

 _Do I know stuff or don't I?_ I frowned. _Make up your mind, stupid head._

I stayed quiet now and drifted behind them, my excitement having died down a bit. Drakon eyed him.

"You're that pacifist from before," he observed. "Go mind your own business. I am a solider, remember? I will not accept help from a traitor such as yourself."

"Hmm, this traitor saved your ass," Sinbad rebutted, "and hasn't gotten so much as a thank you. Childish, if you ask me?"

"Just who are you calling childish?!" Drakon erupted. An arrogant shine appeared in his eyes and I resisted the urge to groan. "Very well then, I'll introduce myself in such a way that even a commoner like you will understand. Take note of my noble name. A general of Parthevia, the youngest of the Dragul family, son of General Draguliel Henrius Nomidus Pertegomidus, Commander of the Western Region military unit, my noble name is Dragul Nol Henrius Govius Menudias Partenuv-"

"Bored!" I interrupted blatantly.

"Way too long," Sinbad deadpanned. "Let's call you Drakon instead."

Drakon froze. "Wait, what?"

"From now on, you're Drakon," Sinbad nodded, pleased. I stifled a laugh as they launched themselves at each other, fighting like children in the street.

"How rude!"

"Your name's too freakin' long! My name's only 6 letters! S-I-N-B-A-D!"

"How dare you insult the name of Dragul! I'll kill you!"

A shadow fell over them and the fighting ceased as they all looked up to see a great white dragon passing overhead.

 _Huge_...

"Shelter," I announced promptly, heading for a nearby crevasse. I patted them on the shoulder once they'd joined me in the shadows.

"Maybe you should save the nonsensical fighting until a bit later, you know, when we get out of here," I suggested dryly.

"Agreed," the boys chorused.

"Who are you anyway?" Sinbad asked, taking my hand, his smile turning charmingly charismatic. "Do you have a name to go with your lovely appearance, miss?"

I scowled. "Let go of me or I'll rip off your arm and beat you with it."

"Duly noted," Sinbad grimaced and let go. I hesitated.

"You can call me... Aisha," I decided, punctuating my declaration with a firm nod.

"Are you from Parthevia, Aisha?" Drakon questioned, suspicion flickering across his stony face.

"Why not?" I shrugged. He growled at the obvious lie but I really didn't care. I was too preoccupied with the memories, images flowing in my mind. _Sinbad and a shield, Drakon watching, a dragon's roar._

Frustration bubbled up inside of me. I could not interfere with this fight. I could not fight alongside them this time.

' _Soon_ ,' a whispered promise drifted to my ears and I bit my lip in disappointment, but conceded.

It was with great reluctance that, as Drakon got offended once again at one of Sinbad's offhand jokes, I slipped away from them.

I had only just arrived and already, there was something I couldn't do.

' _Pity_ ', I mused. I think I would have liked to try my hand against a king of dragons. Though, that door it's guarding likely leads somewhere.

The ground turned muddy beneath my feet and I found myself trudging along a watery ditch, grimacing at the feel beneath my toes. I'd already decided I liked the feel of bare feet but a watery ditch is a bit much, shoes or not.

"Ewwww," I whined as I made my way to the door as quickly as possible, skirting wide to avoid the white dragon that lounged in the middle of the clearing. Any time a smaller dragon got near, a swift throw sent a knife deep into its throat and it would fall long before reaching me.

' _Pests_ ,' I grumbled to myself. Still, it was pretty convenient for Solomon to include all these little throwing daggers and kunai with the clothes. I kept finding them everywhere, tucked in my belt, lining my sleeves, in my boots. If only I had a hidden compartment with a sandwich or something, I'd be set. I reached the door with little trouble.

I leant against it and traced one of the round indents. It was smooth, smooth as... polished crystal.

"Baal," I whispered to the Djinn of the Dungeon, "let me in."

When I lifted my head, there was a sword at my throat.

"I don't know who you are," Drakon growled, "but I will not let you trick the Parthevian Empire out of this Dungeon's treasure."

"Oh?" I purred in amusement and leaned closer. Drakon seemed a little unsettled as his blade nicked the side of my neck. A pearl of blood welled up and fell down my skin.

This body must've looked like a ghost, with the long white hair, pale skin and seemingly translucent silvery-grey eyes. White as Rukh wings. The red stood out against my pale complexion.

"Don't insult me, boy," I crooned. I forced my temper down and smirked. "Besides, I'm probably not the enemy you want to face right now."

Drakon blanched as I reached out and spun him around to look at the giant white dragon who had noticed us.

As I turned to leave, understanding that this door would not open for me, I briefly caught Sinbad's eye. His expression was unreadable and I blew him a quick kiss cheekily before darting away.

'Hmph, wimp,' I concluded as I left the Parthevian's pleas far behind.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

" _Kill me."_

 _"What the hell's so bad about not wanting to die anyway?"_

 _"A country that abandons its people is worthless!"_

 _Blue lightning. Gold rain. Green orbs._

It seems the closer I am to the event, time-wise, the more I will be bombarded with these memories. I huffed in irritation and shoved the images down, powering ahead.

" _Who am I? That's simple. You can call me Sinbad the Sailor!_ "

"Drama queen," I grumbled.

' **Little Rukh, are you sent by my King?** ' I stopped short as an unfamiliar voice bombarded my thoughts. It sounded like an old guy.

"You must be Baal." My lips quirked upwards. "Took you long enough. I knocked."

' **Are you sent by my King?** '

I sighed. "No fun. Yes, I am sent by our King."

' **Then by all means-** ' Is that amusement I hear in his voice? ' **-come on in.** '

I don't feel good abo-

The ground opened beneath me and I dropped into darkness. I screamed and swore like a pirate all the way down.

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 **Pretty please review. I'd really love some feedback!**

 **Until next time,**

 **\- Dragon**


	3. Of Stolen Treasure and Multiplying Weird

**I am quickly realising that I am so very bad at planning out my stories. I am 100% feeling my way through this. (Yeah, almost definitely expect a rewrite once I get more practice and advice)**

 **Anyway, the next chapter! Onwards!**

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I may or may not have let out a... somewhat unhealthy string of unfavourable words upon landing. I also thanked my lucky stars that this body really was more endurable than most otherwise that might've hurt a whole lot more.

"Baal!" I bellowed, grinding my teeth in annoyance. "What the fuck?!"

" **My apologies, Little Rukh, I feel that those other two candidates will reach me soon so I opted for the more... speedy route to get you here. They've already slain the dragon king,** " Baal responded, his great blue figure leaning over me. I was in a church or something, with white rock and stone treasures. Baal loomed above a lamp on a pedestal.

And she thought Sinbad was a drama queen. At least he didn't put himself on a literal fucking pedestal.

"I could have _died_ ," I stressed, shoving an accusing finger in his direction.

Ok, so maybe we were all drama queens here.

Baal chuckled, deep and throaty. " **Little Rukh, I am the Djinn of Wrath and Heroism, Baal. If that was enough to kill you, then you would be unworthy of my time anyway.** "

"Fine, fine, fussy Djinn, I get it," I muttered irritably, choosing to glance around the room curiously than meet his gaze. "What's with all the rocks anyway? Isn't there supposed to be treasure or something?"

" **The treasure will be granted to those who are worthy. And those who are worthy, must prove it by fighting their way through my dungeon to this room.** "

"So no treasure until then," I grouched, "got it."

Solomon hadn't exactly stuffed my pockets with gold coins. I could use a little treasure around now.

Baal's brow furrowed. " **You're a greedy Little Rukh. But my King sees something in you that perhaps I do not. Thus, you are welcome here, at least until this dungeon is no more.** "

I scratched my head and grinned. "Thanks old man! I should probably warn you though, that's not exactly a very long wait."

There was a heavy pause while I examined my dirt-covered feet in disgust. I need a bath or something.

" **You know what is to come.** "

It wasn't a question but it almost felt like one. I slowly dragged my gaze to his and smiled. "Sometimes."

" **I wonder, Little Rukh, were you blessed or burdened?** "

I felt like laughing.

Instead, I answered, "I was chosen."

" **For virtue or sin?** "

That prompted a pause. I know I must've looked blank as I recalled my wish and the grey smoke that had forced into my light. My cause was a just one, but was my reason?

"For being different," was all I said.

Baal seemed to accept this answer as he drew himself upwards, folding his arms across his chest. " **I am not blessed in the same way as you, Little Rukh, and I am not to know what is yet to take place. Let me ask this, and this alone. Is the road ahead a hard one?** "

I snorted, forcing the severe atmosphere from my thoughts. "When was it ever easy?"

Baal dipped his head a bit in acknowledgement. " **I see. Wise words, though perhaps a bit bitter. But words aside, my challengers are here.** "

"Eh? Already?" I jolted. That prompted thought. Was time equally distributed in a dungeon? Was it entirely linear? Did it perhaps change according to Baal's will? I could've sworn they were to take at least a few hours or so...

He lowered a hand to me, like a big, blue platform. " **If you would please,** " he requested.

I hoisted myself onto his palm and crouched, keeping a low centre of gravity as he lifted me into the air. He cupped his hands a little, but I think that was less to keep me from tumbling off and more a natural body movement.

I had just gotten back on my feet, facing Baal still, when the door was pushed open and two familiar faces stopped short at the sight. I stifled another snort as Sinbad and Drakon gaped at me, then at the giant, blue hulk that was Baal.

"Hello, boys," I cooed. "You sure took your time."

Baal appraised the two as they quickly recovered.

"Aisha," Sinbad greeted smoothly, his suave tone countered by the excitement and thrill practically gleaming in his expression. A kid, through and through. "Care to introduce us to your friend?"

"My _friend_ can introduce himself," I chuckled as Baal straightened up.

" **I am known as Baal, Djinn of Wrath and Heroism,** " he boomed. I resisted the urge to wince at the sheer volume of his voice. " **Tell me, who is the one that wishes to become King?** "

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"Is this really necessary?" I questioned. Currently, I was lounging on my back on Baal's palm, my head hanging off the edge so that my hair fell like a snowy waterfall straight down and I could observe Sinbad and Drakon's fight quite clearly, albeit upside-down. "I mean, you knew there were two of them coming and that neither would give up the claim to your power. You had ages to judge them individually, evaluate them, compare prices, blah, blah, blah. You totally could've made a decision by now and saved us all the trouble."

" **They are both fine warriors,** " Baal replied, watching the battle intently. " **As I said, this will be a test of my future master's skills. They both deserve to fight to the end for the honour of conquering my dungeon.** "

I rolled my eyes and continued watching.

Sword. Sword. Slash. Catch. Punch. Punch. A lot of stumbling and swelling and some bleeding. Punch. Punch. Dramatic yelling. Another punch.

I groaned and jumped to my feet, pacing back and forth impatiently. "This is so boring."

" **From what I've seen of your character, Little Rukh, I'd have thought you'd enjoy a fight,** " Baal remarked, still not sparing me a glance.

"Not when I can't join in," I exclaimed, waving a hand at the two clashing figures. "It's no fun just watching them beat the crap out of each other for no reason. Sure, maybe if one of them was a bit more annoying but they're both alright too."

The pacing wasn't helping. I collapsed exasperatedly and glared at the ceiling. "This sucks."

" **Be patient, Little Rukh,** " Baal rumbled. " **It seems we are nearing the end now.** "

"I don't think I'm the patient type," I muttered to myself. Still, I sat up with an intrigued expression in time to watch Sinbad land the final blow. I sniffed as Drakon teetered and went down, securing the victory of the future king.

"Finally."

Baal nodded. " **I have seen all I need. You have my approval. As proof of this-** " the Djinn waved his hand and the stone treasures turned to god, silver and gemstones " **-the power and wealth you so desire is now yours to command.** "

Neat trick.

I lightly tapped his fingers and he lowered me to the ground. I still had to jump a few metres though. Landing softly, I jogged over to Sinbad, but his attention was still on Baal.

" **Little Rukh.** " Baal's voice made me pause halfway to the boy. " **I wish you fortunate travels. No doubt your path shares the stones and burdens of the rest of us now.** "

I smiled and shot a cheeky smirk over my shoulder. "It was never the smoothest of paths in the first place anyway."

Baal dipped his head respectfully and magic circles lit up beneath us, littering the floor like luminescent paint. I met his eyes and my lips quirked upwards.

"See you on the other side, old man."

A flash of white and we were gone.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

It was a short meeting, not a lot of time for us to converse with two morons competing for the dungeon's power in the background, but I decided that I liked Baal.

No, not liked. Respected. I respected that Djinn because it was harder not to. Besides, as the Djinn of Wrath and Heroism, he was a fighter. I'm still learning about myself as I go, but I can already tell that I root for the fighters.

It was why I was a little bummed when we reappeared in the crater where the dungeon once stood. I was still a bit bummed when I leant down and started scooping some of the smaller treasures into the pockets of my billowing pants.

Hey, a girl's gotta eat. Or in this case, be just a little bit rich after risking her life and thus very existence in a dragon-filled dungeon. It was for a good cause. (I mean, I was helping with a good cause on Solomon's behalf and this was helping me, so really it was indirectly for a good cause.)

I did falter a bit though when I looked up and realised that we were surrounded by an army.

 _That's right. Sinbad was kind of wanted for treason or something, wasn't he?_

I pursed my lips and slowly edged away from the purple-haired boy, who was only just climbing to his feet.

A Parthevian soldier stepped forward, a wide grin on his face as he took in the sight of glittering treasure. "Young capturers! You are applauded o-"

"Aisha!" Sinbad screeched, cutting him off entirely as the sailor pointed accusingly at me. I paused, jewels and gold spilling from my clothes and a completely unaware look on my face.

Yeah, I was kind of done with Parthevian soldiers by now so I'd resumed filling my pockets while the others were _supposed to be distracted._

"What?" I acted dumb.

"I'm the Dungeon Capturer, that's my treasure!" Sinbad yelled, crossing his arms like a disappointed, kind of angry father. That thought almost made me chuckle. Almost.

I scowled. "What? I helped, didn't I?"

"You just stood and watched!"

"Don't be so stingy. It's kinda your fault I'm here, no money, no food, no shelter. It's the least you could do to share a small portion of your treasure with me."

"Don't just decide that on your own!"

The Parthevian soldier interrupted quite forcefully, seemingly unhappy with the diversion. "Young capturers! You are applauded on your achievements as valued citizens of Parthevia."

I eyed him warily. Were all Parthevians so pesky?

"Now," the soldier stepped forward, "kindly hand over the treasure and power and we may discuss rewa-"

"Not gonna happen." I scoffed as Sinbad shot the man down rather bluntly. "I earned this treasure and power with my own hands and I won't hand it over to you."

The Parthevian spluttered. I chuckled and shoved one last gold chalice in my pocket.

"This is treason!" He exclaimed. "Men, restrain him at once!"

A presence swirled into existence behind us and I blinked. Then I sighed.

A new voice cut into the conversation and images immediately flickered, strong enough to blind me to the world for a moment.

"I'm surprised you aren't using your newfound powers, Sinbad."

 _Green and gold. A little hut in the bottom of a valley._

 _A goddamned barrel._

I buried my face into my hands and wailed. "Not this moron."

Sinbad seemed a bit more surprised. "Yunan!" He followed his exclamation with an odd glance in my direction.

I ignored him, instead looked around frantically for an opportunity to escape. However, before I could make a run for it, Yunan firmly grasped the back of my top, keeping a gentle smile firmly plastered on his smile.

"Sinbad," he greeted warmly. Slowly, he looked down at me as well. I granted a sheepish smile in return. "And who might this be?"

Yep, this wasn't going to end well.

"Aisha," Sinbad answered for me. "She's strange."

"Oi!"

"I see."

I growled but stayed put. He was a Magi, there was no way I was getting out of this without an explanation for my literal existence in the world.

Magi were beloved by the Rukh, could see them, interact with them, even use their power but I don't think I was still quite Rukh. Something less or something more, I didn't know but Yunan would most certainly have questions.

"As for your newfound powers, Sinbad," Yunan mused, choosing to deal with Sinbad first. "It seems you don't know how to awaken them yet. Let me help."

I gaped as Yunan decided to summon Baal, a _giant blue Djinn_ , amidst this crowd.

" **Isn't it a bit soon to be needing my power, Master?** "

 _Yes! Yes it is!_ I wanted to yell. _Get back in your goddamn lamp before these Parthevian imbeciles decide to spear you!_

I remained silent though because, for all my knowledge, I was still new at this and Yunan may act like a moron but a majority of the time, he knew what he was doing.

 _Kind traveller. Beloved Magi. Yunan the Ageless._

Nonetheless, the soldiers were shocked to say the least. Yunan paid them no mind, focusing on Sinbad and Sinbad alone. "Go," he told the sailor, "follow the voice within your heart."

Cheesy.

I raised an eyebrow when Sinbad turned to look at me quizzically. "What? Is your heart saying something about me? What's with the staring?"

Sinbad's eyebrows shot up and he held his hands up in mock-surrender at my attitude. Well, hand up. His other hand rose after he'd turned away from me, listing the sword inscribed with Baal's power to the sky.

Funny. I don't remember him being this weird when he becomes-

 _A gaggle of thieves, a leaf, several missing Djinn._

Never mind. He becomes a fucking weirdo.

I suddenly whimpered, my head whipping back and forth between my two companions, Sinbad and Yunan. _I've barely been here a day and I'm already becoming surrounded by weirdos!_

"Oh Djinn of Wrath and Heroism, I order you and your messengers," Sinbad started. I watched the white Rukh - _brothers, sisters, fellow blessed, no longer_ \- as they swirled about him. "Use my magoi as your source and bestow my will with great power. Come forth, Baal!"

I blinked at the sparking, blue sphere forming around Baal, who simply chuckles.

"Wow."

I peered up at Yunan while Baal struck down soldier after soldier. "Hey, Magi, who do you think is the strongest Djinn?"

Yunan blinked at me, a bright smile slowly spreading across his face. "Why, I don't know. They're all so strong, you see, and each in their own ways."

"Yeah, but like, if I were to fight them all," I pressed, throwing a few mock punches in the air, "which one would I have the most difficulty with?"

Yunan beamed at me. "Well, that depends on you, doesn't it?"

"Urgh," I rolled my eyes and slumped. There was no getting a straight answer out of this guy.

"Say, little one," Yunan started, "how old are you?"

I paused to think about it. "Uh, no idea... which age do you mean?"

"Are there many?" Yunan didn't seem fazed by my odd wording, only curious.

"Well, do you mean physically? Or like, mentally? Or do you mean how old is my soul? Or maybe how many memories do I have? How do you define alive, because then you could be asking how long I've been alive or maybe how long I've existed?" I rambled. I stopped to think it over. "So yes, I suppose there are quite a few."

"Oh my, you're quite a complex being, aren't you?" He exclaimed.

"And your hat is green and pointy. What of it?" I sniped, sniffing indignantly.

"I have so many questions," Yunan mused. "But first..."

I stared wide-eyed as Yunan waved his staff and Sinbad started levitating, along with the treasure. "Uh... Yunan?"

Sinbad yelped. "Yunan! What the-?!"

"Be off Sinbad! This is a gift from me to you!" Yunan called and with a flourish, Sinbad and the treasure vanished. I gaped.

The last the soldiers saw of the ordeal was Yunan placing a hand on my shoulder and waving his staff again while I flailed excitedly, pointing at the spot in the air formerly occupied by Sinbad and yelling, "Magi, teach me that!"

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

 **I should really be taking more time between chapters to sit and edit some more, but I'm so very busy. So this is what I end up with. Karma.**

 **Well, until next time then,**

 **\- Dragon**


	4. Aatiq

**Man, I have been productive and, well, we've gotten to some of the good stuff now! This chapter along with the next (which I've already written, just doing some last minute editing now) are much bigger than I'd initially planned. No matter how much I edit, they always stick between 5000-6000 words give or take. At one point, the next chapter was at 8000 so there was some major editing there to try and cut it down a bit, I ended up shifting a bunch of scenes from there into this one and then, of course, that meant a little more editing on this one to smooth out the flow a bit... yeah, I've been busy.**

 **Well, this is what came out of it all so, let's get to it!**

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

It wasn't a very long time before I met Sinbad again. Of course, this time it was a little more deliberate.

I really relished the look of complete and utter astonishment coupled with a whole lot of confusion and ' _I really wanna protest about something but I don't know what, this is a weird situation that I wasn't prepared for_ ' on his face.

To be fair, feasting and drinking with the Imuchakk tribe leader was likely the last place he expected to meet me again.

"Sinbad!" I howled, the booze - _Sake? Rum? Mead? Ah, who cares_ \- in my hand sloshing about as I toasted in his direction. "You sure took your damn time!"

"Ah, my children," the tribe leader boomed, addressing the two Imuchakk at Sinbad's side. "You've returned!"

Meanwhile, I think Sinbad was trying to have a silent conversation with me but I was a little too tipsy and he was a little too sober for it to work.

In a flash, the tribe leader had his weird-looking spear thing at Sinbad's throat. "And who is this stranger you have brought here?"

My chortling echoing in the background probably weren't helping much with the situation, I admit, but this was really good stuff I was drinking. Besides, it was cool to see that the tribe leader, even halfway to being drunk off his rockets, was a worthy warrior.

"Outsiders are not welcome here."

Sinbad's gaze slid back to me, silently asking for help as his two friends began to defend him.

I smiled slyly, letting him know that he got himself in this mess and I would not be getting him out. Instead, leaving Sinbad to his predicament, I let my eyes trail over his companions.

The real reason I was here.

There was a reason the Rukh called that weirdo Magi, Yunan the Ageless. For Sinbad, it had probably been weeks since we'd last met. For me, it had been months.

I'd lost track of Sinbad the moment Yunan separated us. Obviously. Even if I'd managed to figure out where he'd been sent off to, like I said, it'd been weeks.

So I followed my visions. Of some random blue-haired guy with muscles. I checked with Yunan and, after describing the guy, he pointed me to the Imuchakk Tribe. And since he was the one who separated me from the path all that time ago, he so kindly offered to send me there immediately.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

" _Oh my god, stop_ crying _, I only threatened you like six times!"_

 _"So scary~!"_

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

And voila! There he was, the mysterious blue-haired guy with _muscles_.

 _Yeah, I think I like abs_ , I decided, tilting my head and staring at them. _So very much. It's a shame I can't see half his face with that hair..._

 _I don't really remember who the Imuchakk girl with them is though... Probably a relative going by the similarities._

In my musings, it seemed I missed a little reel about responsibilities and warriors.

While the blue-boy with abs bowed his head, I reached out to place a hand on the leader's arm.

"Now, now," I purred, putting out as many calming vibes as I could manage. I was sure Sinbad could worm his way out of this but it was taking far too long for my liking. "Don't be too harsh. Sinbad is a friend and a fine warrior. Besides, don't you have a festival to prepare for?"

The tribe leader frowned deeper and glanced suspiciously at Sinbad. "You know Aatiq?"

"Aatiq?" Sinbad repeated. I smirked when he looked at me questioningly. One day he'd stop being confused by the mysterious wonder that was me and learn to accept it instead.

For now, I nodded. "He knows Aatiq."

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

We were talking over dinner when the tribe leader brought up the mysterious building had appeared at the northern waterfall, a short while after the boy had left-

- _Hinahoho, Giant of the Sea, Warrior of the Imuchakk Tribe_ -

I scowled and shooed the images away. Anyway, it had arrived just before I had and damn, I remembered talking my ass off trying to convince the Imuchakk that I had nothing to do with it (I might've fought a giant or two in my frustration).

I watched as purple-ponytail firmly warned them against entering the dungeon, even going so far as to unsheathe his sword. I hissed and covered my eyes at the sharp glow from Baal's symbol.

"Is that your emblem as a capturer?" The tribe leader asked, seemingly reevaluating.

"Indeed," Sinbad confirmed. "The djinn from that Dungeon lives in here."

I suppressed the urge to correct him. After all, that wording wasn't quite right and that wasn't quite how it worked. Still, I left it. No point having to explain all that to them.

Their puny, mortal brains would implode.

I smiled as the leader offered Sinbad a bowl. "Courage is valued amongst the Imuchakk. It garners the greatest honour. I hope you forgive my earlier rudeness."

Sinbad accepted happily and our gazes met across the room. I winked.

"Anyway, as the leader of these people, I'm sure you wouldn't do something as reckless as allow them to enter the dungeon," I remarked, greedily scooping more stew into my own bowl. "Sinbad's right, it's rather dangerous."

At this, I stopped and looked at Hinahoho. I hadn't missed the jealous display in his body language and humans could be such idiots sometimes. My expression stayed casual but my words carried a little more weight. "It's really not worth it in the end."

He seemed uncomfortable at the sudden attention so I eased up by beaming at him. I shot a cheeky glance at Sinbad. "Eh, Sinbad, you should work out more. You'd be more bearable if you had abs."

"I do have-" he squawked indignantly before cutting himself off with a cough. "Sh-Shut up, _Aatiq_."

We sneered childishly at each other until the tribe leader began to laugh heartily. "Both of our guests are such courageous warriors. I shall trust your words and tell my men to steer clear of this... dungeon."

Papirika takes it upon herself to lighten the mood a bit further by revealing Hinahoho's crush. He turned out to be a bit of a mood killer but hey, his biceps were four times the size of mine so I forgave him by the time the festivities started.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"H-Hold on!" Sinbad panicked as the king laughed and began to fill his bowl with booze. "Isn't that too much?! Ai- uh, Aatiq, share with me!"

Purple-Ponytail looked to me to take some, only to find me chugging my entire bowl down at once. As I swirled the last few drops on my tongue and wiped the back of my arm across my jaw, I lowered my bowl to chuckle at his dumbfounded face. It seemed this bod could process and fight of toxins rather well, which was cool, but it also meant it took a lot of alcohol to get me drunk.

"Don't be such a wimp, ponytail!" I reached over and slapped his shoulder. He winced and resigned himself to his fate.

Lucky for him, before he could drink more than a few gulps, some kids dragged him away laughing. I snickered.

Once he was out of sight, I took the time to look around while I waited for a refill. The Maharagan was really a sight to behold. There was fire and dancing and music and drinking and I decided that I liked it here, I really did.

It seemed I was the kind of person to fit in at a rowdy event like this.

I tucked that little bit of knowledge away for safekeeping as the tribe leader captured my attention. His gaze was lingering on Sinbad's figure moving around the party at the mercy of the little Imuchakk brats.

"He said he lived in a small village in Parthevia. That's a journey away, across the sea," he noted.

"Yes." I wondered where he was going with this.

"And so, how did you two meet? A boy from across the sea and the traveller who had never seen the sea before?" They locked eyes and she stayed silent. Even she wondered what kind of expression must be on her face right now. _Ah, he found out._

I'd gotten so excited at the sight of the ocean.

I don't think I'd ever seen it before coming here.

"We met in that dungeon of his," I answered truthfully. "To be honest, that was the only time we'd met. But here we are, meeting again so soon."

My smile widened and I tilted my head innocently. "Almost like fate, don't you think?"

He watched me carefully, thoughtfully, before facing straight ahead. He looked terribly formal, I noted.

"You're a mysterious girl, Aatiq," he spoke. "I do not think you are a threat to the Imuchakk. But you are unknown and that is dangerous in itself. Still, you have the make of a fighter inside and out and for that you have my respect."

Respect. But not trust. Never trust.

I turned away from him and my smile softened. "I guess I can't ask for more than that."

The moment was quiet and cut short soon enough.

"Help meeeee!" At the moment, Sinbad was dragged past by the same laughing kids from earlier. He seemed distressed.

I waved gleefully as he went by.

"Traitooooorrrrrrrr!" He howled, vanishing into the crowd.

"Who do I have to charm to get a refill around here?" I exclaimed, waving my bowl around. "It's a festival after all!"

This really was a rather reliable body.

I didn't get a refill though.

No, because Sinbad zoomed past soon enough and, with an evil expression, took hold of my wrist to drag me along for the ride.

"Mwahahaha!"

"Idiot!"

"Revenge!" He cackled.

I scowled and dug my heels in. We didn't even _slow down._

"What do they feed these kids, _sugar and nightmares?!_ " I yowled.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

We eventually ended up around the bonfire. I'd snatched a bottle of booze from somewhere along the way and I took a swig from it every now and then while I danced around the fire.

"Where'd you learn to drink like that?!" Sinbad called, half in awe and half in horror.

I linked arms with him and laughed as we spun.

"Now, now," I teased, "I can't give away all my secrets."

"Of course you can't, _Aatiq_ ," he responded. "You ever gonna tell me your real name?"

I leaned in close and smirked. "Dunno. Are you ever gonna deserve it?"

I tapped him on the nose with a finger and leapt back. A wall of cheering Imuchakk moved between us before he could get me back and I waved at him from the other side.

Hinahoho and Papirika were nowhere in sight.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

I didn't sleep that night.

There was a brat in the roof.

He didn't notice me, crouching in the corner of Sinbad's room. I'd snuck in just after him. I think he would have noticed me had he not been so insanely fixated on Ponytail.

I didn't blame him for not sensing me either. I was unnatural, after all.

Still, I pushed down my laughter as Sinbad fended him off in his sleep. It was funny when I first saw the vision, partway through drunkenly singing nonsensical sea tunes with four other Imuchakk men, and it was sure as hell still funny now.

Sinbad woke up quickly though, meeting the assassin's blade with his sheathed sword. Of course, it ended how I expected, the assassin brat crouching over Sinbad after Sinbad used his own blade-on-a-string to pull him back down from the rafters.

What were those things called anyway? I doubted they were actually called blade-on-a-string.

Either way, I darted forward. The brat sensed the movement and looked over his shoulder in surprise just as I gathered up the back of his shirt in one hand and lifted him clear off the ground.

Using the other hand, I caught the blade he immediately threw at me between my index finger and thumb, having already expected it.

"Aw, Sinbad," I crooned. "Is this toddler bothering you? Need some help?"

"I got this," Sinbad said, holding his sword out. Baal's symbol glows and my face dropped.

"Hold on, wait just a-"

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"I said I was sorry!" Sinbad whimpered, as I added more weight on my foot and pressed him flatter against the floorboards.

My white hair was frizzed and slightly charred at the ends, static keeping most of the loose strands suspended in the air. My fingers felt tingly still from lingering electricity. Nearby, the assassin brat was firmly tied up while Hinahoho and Papirika sympathetically observed Sinbad's punishment.

"You electrocuted me," I hissed. "Sorry. Isn't. Good. Enough."

"Uh, Aatiq," Hinahoho tentatively spoke up. "I, um, I think he gets it."

I scowled at him and the Imuchakk retreated immediately. "B-But you know, what would I know, I wasn't the one electrocuted, do as you see fit..."

Papirika sighed in the background as I stuck my nose up and let Sinbad go. Ponytail immediately scrambled to get behind his saviour as I crossed my arms and huffed.

"It hurt, ya know," I complained. I quickly zeroed in on the assassin brat. "Of course, he wouldn't have done so if this pathetic little _pipsqueak_ hadn't broken in."

The brat glared defiantly at me as I moved closer.

"Spill," I ordered. "Who the hell are you? Are you one of those Parthevian pests? Solomon, those guys are so annoying..."

 _White hair. Freckles. Advisor to a King._

I blinked as more visions interrupted. _Huh. He's actually important._

 _Does that mean I can't maim him a little?_

"Uh, maybe ease up a little, Aatiq," Sinbad spoke up, heading over to stand next to her. "He's just a kid."

I sighed and acquiesced, taking a step back. If the brat really was important, than Sinbad should be the one to deal with it after all. Future king and all.

I proceeded to watch with disdain as he proceeded to treat the brat like any other kid, despite the fact that he was an assassin. Only Sinbad would treat someone who made an attempt on his life barely moments ago like this. Just because they're a kid.

 _Am I a kid?_

I stopped at the thought, successfully distracted.

Well, I was physically still a kid. I looked younger than Sinbad, I knew that much but I couldn't really judge age well yet. I had no idea how old I was supposed to be. I was kind of a kid mentally, but also kind of not. I was childish, but could I be considered a child? With all my knowledge and complexity?

Yunan had asked this question, hadn't he? I still didn't have an answer.

 _What even am I?_

I was distracted too long.

Sudden movement alerted me as the kid cut through his bindings and lunged for Sinbad, blade glinted, surprise flashing on Ponytail's face and I _moved_ just as the smoke bomb went off-

When the smoke cleared, the brat was gone and Sinbad had dodged but it wouldn't have matter because I had engulfed both the small blade and the brat's fingers with my bare hand. I had felt it yanked through my grasp and split skin. Now, I stood in front of Sinbad with blood dripping from my fingertips, glaring at the cut rope on the floor.

It happened so fast.

"He's gone," I announced.

"Where did they come from?" That was Hinahoho.

A gasp. "Aatiq, you're bleeding!" Papirika. It seemed they hadn't attacked anyone else. It was just a simple rescue attempt, a successful one at that.

She sounded a bit panicked though. _Ah yes,_ I mused, _they couldn't see the wound, just the blood. They didn't know it was just a few little cuts on her palm and fingers._

 _Though there are a lot of nerve endings in the palm and it was_ _ **stinging**_ _-_

I ignored it and made sure I was smiling before I turned around. ( _I've never really felt the pain of a blade before, this is interesting_ )

"Don't worry, just a shallow cut," I reassured her. I curled my fingers in and cradled my other hand under it, trying to keep the blood from dripping on the floor. Well, more than it already had. There were a few drops already.

"Who were those guys?" Hinahoho questioned, looking mighty worried.

Sinbad looked at me. "They must be from the Parthevian army. They were probably sent to capture me."

"Likely," I acknowledged. "They certainly weren't after me, they had no way of knowing that I was here. I know I sure as hell didn't leave a trail."

Yunan-teleport. Very reliable.

"Wait," Papirika stopped them. The siblings looked a bit bewildered. "That means you're a wanted man. But why?"

"I betrayed my country amongst other things." He quickly reached out to push my hands down as I started conspicuously counting his crimes on my fingers.

"Aren't you scared?" Hinahoho frowned. "You can never return home and you'll be targeted by assassins all your life."

"If only he was smart enough to feel fear," I sighed, edging my way past them. "Well, I'm gonna go find a clean rag or two to clean this blood off. Seeya later, Ponytail."

I left Sinbad spouting something about destiny and obstacles. I'd done my part and those assassins weren't coming back anytime soon. Besides the sun was coming up and the time between my visions was getting shorter and shorter, like a ticking clock.

I had a feeling that the look on Hinahoho's face had something to do with it.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

My instincts were proving to be quite adept in this life. Soon enough, Papirika found her nearby the house. The Imuchakk girl has a piece of paper scrunched up in her hands and looked like she was about to cry.

I scowled.

"M-My brother... the dungeon," she gasped. "You have to help us. Aatiq, please."

I pushed off the ground with an irritated groan. "I'll go get him, I guess. Though, just in case, maybe you should go find Sinbad too. I have a really bad feeling about this."

Papirika nodded and ran off, by all means a girl on a mission while I stretched. My back and shoulders cracked in three different places and I breathed out. Then I set off at a decent pace, heading for the northern waterfall.

 _How troublesome._

I had a really bad feeling about this.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"How in the holy hell do I get down there?" I muttered, crouching at the edge of the snowy cliff. The stupid dungeon was surrounded by waterfalls on a little island of its own. It had two bridges from the island to...

"Are those caves? Do I have to trudge my way through a freakin' cave just to get to the dungeon and then trudge my way through the freakin' dungeon to save this idiot's ass?" I complained, rocking back on my feet with a long, intolerant sigh.

"My, my, still as impatient and lazy as ever." A few excited White Rukh heralded his arrival.

"Still a creepy stalker as always," I retorted, leaning backwards and tilting my head up. Yunan smiled down at me. "Are you ever going to stop popping out of nowhere? It's super weird."

"How else do you travel?" He wondered innocently. I squinted at him suspiciously but he seemed to be genuinely unaware of any other transport. Weirdo.

 _Ooh. Transport._

"Can you save me some time and just, you know, zap me down there?" I asked cheerily, the too-wide smile probably giving my intentions away.

"Eh, that would be a very irresponsible use of ma-"

I growled.

"But anything for a friend," he backtracked quickly, lifting his staff. Under his breath, he murmured to himself, "How scary..."

"Hey, you're waiting for Sinbad to pop up, aren't you?" I realised suddenly.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, I might be keeping an eye on him for a bit," Yunan confirmed. There was an moment of hesitation in which he was obviously debating whether or not admit it. Still, I let it slide for now. ( _What an interesting concept, a Magi untrusting of a Rukh-_ )

"Can you tell him to hurry the fuck up?" I requested darkly. "I don't remember signing up to babysit a giant blue _baby_. It's _his_ future associate, I don't see why the son of a-"

Yunan sweatdropped and waved his staff.

In a flash, the landscape changed around me and I landed on my butt with a small yelp. My surprise was quickly overtaken by my joy as I realised Yunan had nicely deposited me right outside of the dungeon entrance. Irritation shortly followed.

He cut me off, the jerk.

I dusted the snow off my clothes and glanced over my shoulder to find Yunan happily waving at from the cliffs.

 _Yeah no._

I turned on my heel and stalked into the dungeon. Weirdo.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"Man, if only dungeons weren't so lethal and all," I remarked, admiring the shimmering, crystal-covered walls of the cave. "They'd make really nice tourist attractions."

Speaking of lethal, I turned a harsh glare on the little butterflies flittering around the place. They kind of reminded me of how the Rukh might've looked if we - _they_ \- weren't so glowy and shiny.

That bugged me.

I was reminded yet again of how unnatural my current existence was when the butterflies seemed to feel my enmity and instantly steered clear. Even the ones who had already landed on me quickly launched themselves in the air again.

 _Ah, they're much smarter than those dragons in the last dungeon._

I noted the abandoned butterfly corpses on the floor, fresh, indicating that I probably wasn't far behind the blue idiot. Though, he was nowhere to be seen and I didn't see any footsteps or tracks to follow.

White wings fluttered past, standing out amongst the purple, and I followed them to find a small cluster of White Rukh hovering over the river nearby.

I glared. "Oh no. No, no, no, no, no. Not even if his life depended on it."

The Rukh remained obstinate.

"Oh yeah, easy for you to say" I protested sharply. "It is freezing in here. I have actual skin with actual nerves now."

The Rukh fluttered about each other a bit before starting to drift downstream. The message was clear. _If you want to catch up faster and help, this is the quickest way._

I hesitated. _Oh, goddamn it..._

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

I latched onto the nearest rock in the middle of the river, and scrambled onto it the second I saw that familiar blue ponytail. Hissing like an angry wet cat, I got as high as I could and as far away from the splashing water and narrowed my eyes at him.

Hinahoho looked surprised to see me, but not as much as he looked terrified.

" _You_ ," I snarled. " _You_ did this."

"A-A-Aatiq," he stammered. _Oh, if only I had claws like a cat, I'd rip his-_

"Get me the hell off this rock!" I howled and he leapt into action, muttering frantic apologies.

It was a long, arduous process involving Hinahoho getting back into the water. I then mounted his head, curling around his shoulders as he carried across to the shore. And if he said I used my position to my advantages and dunked his head underwater several times during, well, he's a _liar_ then, isn't he?

"Aatiq, what are you-" he began to ask as soon as we were safely back on land but I slapped a hand over his mouth, my eyes burning into his.

"Don't," I said, folding my arms across my chest huffily. "Just keep going. I'm right behind you."

"I can do this on my-"

"Move." My eyes _glowed_.

"Yes ma'am," He spluttered, heading off immediately.

I grimaced as I wrung the cold water from my sodden white locks. My clothes clung to me uncomfortably and carried the chill to my bones. Hinahoho ( _Solomon, that name is far too long. Let's call him Blue_ ) was lucky that this body wouldn't get sick so easily or I might've killed him and blamed it on the dungeon.

In fact, I surveyed his broad back thoughtfully. _No one would know..._

The White Rukh swept past me like the pests they were and I rolled my eyes.

"I know, I know," I grumbled, "I wasn't actually going to..."

"Wasn't going to what?"

" _Did I say you could stop?_ "

"S-Sorry!"

Giving my hair one last good twist, I swept it back over my shoulder and made to follow Blue.

I'd take the dragons over this any day.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"Oh, what a cute crab," I deadpanned as the ground beneath Blue's feet heaved upwards to give way to the monstrous, crystal-embedded creature. Blue let out a yell and I crept over to the side.

He leapt free of its claw and swiped his spear, severing multiple legs.

I grimaced. "How gross and quite rude to be honest."

"Rude?!" Blue exclaimed.

"Well, we are technically the intruders in this crab's lovely home. How would you feel if someone broke into your house and cut off your legs?" I explained, apparently to deaf ears since the crab had taken a swipe at Blue, digging a line into his back.

I watched blankly as he plunged into the waters below. When I looked up, the crab was staring at me. ( _Hesitating, watching, what is this unnatural being-_ )

"I should probably go get him," I informed it. I liked to think that was a welcoming glint in its eye but alas, I would not be so lucky. "Yeah, you're nasty."

A flick of the wrist sent a small dagger deep in its eye and it screeched, staggering back and making a run for it.

I looked back at the water where Blue had yet to emerge.

"I should really go get him."

I didn't move.

Blue burst from the water like a geyser, bringing yet another crab up with him. He seemed a bit stressed.

"Oh there you are," I commented blandly. "I was just about to go get you."

"You can start helping anytime!"

It's newly detached pincer landed barely a metre from me and I frowned. Now I definitely don't wanna help him. Besides, he was making that 'I'm taking a stand' face. I wouldn't want to get in his way.

It probably had nothing to do with how boring these crabs were. I wanted a real fight, not Wrestling-with-Seafood 101.

Thankfully, the boredom didn't last long as two familiar and two unfamiliar presences arrived behind me. I looked up as a blade whizzed past to bury itself in the second crab.

"Oh look, it's the scaredy cat Parthevian brat and the whiny little assassin brat," I announced, relishing the way the aforementioned two twitched.

My gaze slowly followed them as they passed Blue to retrieve the weird weapon, revealing the key to the door in the process. Silently, I stalked over to Blue, ready to spring into action if they so much as glared in his direction.

Blue exploded just before I reached him. "Just a minute! That key is mine!"

I facepalmed as whiny-little-assassin-brat recognised him. "You were with Sinbad last night."

Then the shortie focused in on me. "And _you_." Oh, he didn't seem too pleased with me.

Using that to my advantage, I tilted my head and let my eyes go wide. "You're that kid, right? The temperamental kid who Sinbad scolded?"

Whiny-little-assassin-brat tensed, eyes narrowing to slits.

"You'll have to forgive me if I forget your name," I smiled sweetly. "I've met so many brats recently, I can hardly remember them all."

"You little-" he snapped, moving to lunge at me, blade in hand. He was stopped by Drakon's voice.

"Enough. She's just trying to draw your attention away from her moronic companion. We'll head to the treasure vault. Sinbad is bound to end up there anyway," the green-haired Parthevian commanded, turning away from us.

"Aw, have you forgotten me already, little Drakon?" I cooed, watching him falter a little at the nickname. "After all, I haven't seen you since our good old friend Sinbad punched the living shit out of you and claimed that dungeon's power from right beneath your grubby little nose. I was rooting for him, ya know?"

Drakon's hand twitched towards his sword and the two unfamiliar faces exchanged wary looks with each other. I spotted something in his other hand.

"And is that a dungeon weapon I spy there? Oh my, he didn't just take that power, he left you to scramble for his sold-off leftovers. Or perhaps you were just a charity case."

You know, pissing Parthevian brats off is actually kind of fun. My grin widened cheekily as I slowly edged away from Blue. _That's it, don't look at him, look at_ _ **me**_ _-_

I missed their next reaction though because I got distracted by Blue's eyes glowing red. We all got little warning before his attack, a swing of his spear knocking the two unfamiliar faces back. They recovered quickly But even I had to jump out of the way of that attack.

"Oi, ally here," I snapped irritably.

"I don't need protection," Blue replied, his body practically glowing with the excess power. _Oh, had I annoyed him while trying to save his pathetic life? My bad._

"Fine, fine," I grouched, backing off with a roll of my eyes, "have at it. Get yourself killed for all I care."

I spat the last four words out like poison, just so he'd know how much he was annoying me right now. By the time I turned back to face our enemies, they'd mutated into something different, something **wrong**.

"Gross," I muttered, staring at the extended, contorted limbs and bulging muscles. "What the hell is this?"

The White Rukh that had been fluttering around me abruptly changed course, fleeing the newly-formed monsters. Bulging-Muscles hit first, plunging his fist into the ground with a roar.

I dug my heels in against the blast of air and earth, gritting my teeth. "Motherfu-"

Contorting-Limbs wrapped around Blue, restraining him. I jerked back as Assassin-Brat raced towards me, looking particularly vindictive as he shot multiple blades at me.

A white glow spread from my fingertips towards to my elbows and I knocked them all aside, leaping backwards to create a bit of distance so I could take a moment to _think_ -

His eyes widened in surprise but he recovered quickly, closing the gap between us even quicker. I threw my arms up, glowing still, to block his blades, catching the tiny glint from his shoe just slightly too late.

What followed was what I'd call a fabulous display of sheer skill and flexibility as I threw myself backwards, bending almost painfully at the hip as I twisted towards my lower left in to watch the sharp knife scrape past my face.

 _Holy crap, way too close, way too close to my eye, the little_ _ **shit**_ -

A few strands of bright white hair floated slowly to the ground as I rolled away. There was a very shallow cut just at my hairline but I'd escaped having my eyes gouged out by the brat's shoe so I considered it a small victory.

" **Bararaq Saiqa.** "

I blanched and we shot apart as blinding blue strikes of lightning crashed down around us. The assassins regrouped.

I scowled at how close I'd come to being electrocuted. Again.

"When we get out of here," I shouted, "I'm giving you some goddamn accuracy lesson, Ponytail!"

Sinbad shot me an amused smirk before sliding down the slope to join us. "Man, that was a close one, Hina. Though, I didn't expect to see you here, Aatiq."

"Eh? Papirika didn't tell you?" I blinked, heading over to my allies. "I came to save Blue from his own idiocy."

"Sinbad, why are you here?" Blue asked dumbly, wisely choosing to simply ignore my last comment. When Sinbad merely congratulated him on making it so far, Blue slowly facepalmed.

"You're such a moron," I breathed. "And _late_."

"Eh, I came as quick as I could," Sinbad complained. I still punched him in the shoulder when I reached his side. Lighter than I usually would but he had just kind of saved our skins.

The smug look on his face really tempted me to punch him again at full strength though. It just screamed ' _you held back. You're warming up to me, aren't you_ '.

"It's been a while, Sinbad," Drakon spoke up, breaking the moment and saving Sinbad from his fate. Unfortunately, the general seemed to have moved on from my earlier jabs. How sad. I was kind of looking forward to fighting him.

"Huh?" Sinbad stared at them blankly before looking to Blue and I. "Who are they again? When it comes to a lady's face, I'll never forget but guys are a different story."

I pinched the bridge of my nose in disappointment.

"Swine," Drakon stated. I looked at him in exasperation.

"Is it too late to switch sides?" I inquired, edging away from the purple-haired pig.

Suddenly I stopped.

My head snapped to the left to zero in on the lady at Drakon's side. Her face was covered and her eyes closed but she held a staff in her hand and the black wings of Rukh shimmered around her, invisible to the others. The lady stiffened but didn't open her eyes.

"And who might you be?" I hummed, my lips curving mischievously. My eyes held my threat that if I didn't like her answer...

"Huh? Aatiq, is something wrong?" Sinbad questioned.

"Aatiq? I thought her name was Aisha," Drakon frowned, regarding me uncertainly.

"Aisha? Who's Aisha?" Blue wondered.

"Aatiq," Sinbad answered.

"What about Aatiq?" Blue seemed confused.

"Aatiq is Aisha," Sinbad simplified.

"But Aatiq is Aatiq."

"That's what I thought about Aisha," Drakon commented.

"You thought Aisha was Aatiq?"

"No, I thought Aisha was Ai- Enough with the incessant babbling," Drakon snapped.

"Look, Aatiq used to call herself Aisha but now she's Aatiq," Sinbad finished. "Right Aa-"

He paused at the empty space at his side. "She's gone."

Assassin-Brat shrugged and pointed to Drakon's side where the mystery woman had also vanished. "She tackled Falan and they both disappeared."

"... I'm sorry?"

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

As hilarious as the whole name fiasco was, a butterfly had alighted on the mystery woman's staff, drawing my attention back to her. Seconds later, it drifted to the floor and shattered upon impact.

 _Black wings, dark magic, the death of worlds-_

That was enough for me ( _I'd already been brimming with urge, I want to_ _ **fight**_ _-_ ) and I had launched myself forward to tackle the masked woman. Before a sound could be made, our surroundings shifted and we landed on the floor of an empty cavern.

None of the boys were in sight.

We had teleported before even Sinbad could sense the major killing intent I was emitting. That's how fast her magic had been.

The lady wedged her staff between us and used it to shove me away. In an instant, she was on her feet and I bared my teeth at her as I stood.

"You're not natural," the woman spoke, by all accounts calm if it weren't for the burning accusation behind her words.

"You're one to talk," I replied, my eyes tracing the path of the few Black Rukh surrounding her.

"I am Falan, the imperial advisor sorcerer. Who are you?"

"Hello, Falan the imperial advisor sorcerer. That's a long name, can I just call you Fal?" I sneered.

"Does creature like you even have a name?" Falan wondered.

"I have a couple that I'm debating," I grinned. "I'll let you know when I decide on one. You know, if I haven't killed you by then."

"How crude," Falan said.

"Eh, it's your people who attacked us first. How savage."

"Yes, the Sham Lash assassins," Falan murmured. Even her voice sent shivers up my spine. "They were rather poor in their performance. I'd best get back before they let them escape."

"Oi, don't skip out now," I smirked. "We were having such a nice conver-"

" **Thalg Hajar.** "

I sucked in a breath and leapt back, feeding tons of power into the air.

There was a huge flash of light and a rush of cold air. When I finally opened my eyes, Falan was gone, leaving a giant sculpture of jagged ice in her place. The light faded, my defence receding with it now that the threat was gone.

 _Her damn magic, so_ _ **fast**_ _-_

I breathed out, staggering sideways to lean against the cave walls.

"Making me use so much of my power this early in the game," I muttered. "What a monster."

My eye twitched. "And what the hell was with leaving me stranded here?! The fuck?!"

It seemed she'd planned this extremely well, since one side of the tunnel was a dead end, just a wall of stone and crystal. The other side was completely blocked off, the spikes of ices reaching right up to the top, from one side of the tunnel to the other.

Nowhere to go.

I sighed and let my head thunk against the wall I was leaning against. "Damn."

I couldn't climb, the gap was too narrow at the top and far too pointy with all those ice spears. I suppose I could chip away at the walls (better the walls than that ice) but that would consume a lot of magoi and it was probably wiser to preserve as much as possible with Falan still running around.

Besides, I wasn't even at full power after blocking that shit. As a being whose existence relied on magic, I had to be careful with how much I used. Even I didn't know what would happen if I used up all my magoi.

"Damn it, Valefor," I grumbled. "Baal was so much more accomodating than this and that's saying something. He made a nice little path for me and everything."

' **You want a nice little path?** '

I stiffened.

' **Well, why didn't you just say so?** '

The sound of shifting stone echoed throughout my little cavern and I laughed. "Where have you been, you old geezer?"

' **Waiting for you to be alone, of course. Do hurry up.** '

I smiled and, once I was sure I wasn't too weak, I made my way to the neat little passageway that the djinn had so kindly opened for me. I stepped inside and the stone sealed shut behind me.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

 **Yep. Ta-da!**

 **Look, I couldn't make it any better, ok, I really need a beta or something... Anyway, the next chapter is probably more action-packed and definitely my favourite to write so far so expect an update within the next few days. I have so much free time right now so I've turned into a writing fiend. Updates will probably slow down and take longer soon enough but for now, I'm aiming to pump out as many chapters as possible. My goal is to get through as much of the Adventures of Sinbad as possible before I have to start actually living my life again. Wish me luck...**

 **Ok, until next time!**

 **\- Dragon**


	5. Well, That Was Tedious

**Hello again~! Who's ready for the next chapter?! I am! It's also like 4am here and I should really be sleeping but fuck it, I just wanted to get this uploaded first. But also, it's 4am girl, go to sleeeeeep.**

 **Ok, let's do this.**

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

Valefor was already fully formed in all his blue, wolf-like glory when I reached the main chamber. I was also surprised to find him alone.

"Weren't the brats supposed to have reached you by now? What's the hold up?" I wondered as I moved towards him.

I still felt a bit weak but I hadn't expended so much power that I couldn't recover quickly enough. It was more the shock of losing that much so quickly. My body relied on magoi, after all. Even over the course of the short walk to get here, I'd begun to feel stronger again.

If Valefor noticed my sluggish movements, he didn't let it show. " **If you mean the soldier, the assassins and the abomination outside the door, then that would be because I've locked them out.** "

I smiled. "You can do that?"

Valefor sniffed proudly. " **It's my dungeon, I can do as I please. Of course, I can't lock them out forever but I can keep those doors shut for a time.** "

He peered closer at her. " **And** **I wanted to talk with you first.** "

I slumped to the floor lazily. "Go nuts. I'm just gonna sit here."

" **Lazy little Rukh.** "

I frowned. "Are you going to wear that thing the entire time?"

" **Hmm?** "

"Ya know, that face." I indicated to my own to illustrate my meaning. "I mean, I can feel your magoi being used, I know that's not how you really look like. Bonus points for effort though."

" **No, not lazy,** " Valefor appraised me. " **A pest.** "

I scrunched my nose up at him in response as he poofed back into his usual state. " **Happy?** " Smaller, chubbier, fluffier, even his voice had gone up a few octaves.

"Much cuter," I smiled.

" **Were you sent by our King simply to punish me?** " Valefor commented drolly.

"I wish," I moaned. "Nah, I'm here to watch over the Fourth Magi."

" **The what?** " Valefor frowned.

"Nothing, nothing," I waved him off. "I mean, he's not even around yet. For now, I'm just tagging along with Ponytail - he's some future king or somethin' - until things pick up."

" **I saw your response when you defended against the abomination,** " Valefor remarked. " **Our King has gifted you with a well of power.** "

"Yeah, I'm still learning to control it though," I glowered at my hands in frustrations. Light just barely flickered at the tips of my fingers in response. "He didn't exactly debrief everything to me about this body and it's capabilities before he sent me off."

Valefor raised a furry eyebrow.

"I mean, don't get me wrong, he is a kind King and I am grateful, but I also wish he'd installed like an outline or an instruction manual for how this all works."

" **Seems like you have a tough road ahead,** " Valefor said. I pretended not to hear the mocking undertone at my complaining.

" **Well, at least you'll be all studied up on your power before the Fourth Magi comes along. Imagine if you were still learning then. Ha! We'd all be screwed.** "

That made me pause.

' _Wait, was Sinbad just... practice? Like a trial run before Aladdin? A way to hone my powers before I really had to use them? Man, that would be_ shit _. I could screw up so much if I stuffed up here. No, my King was probably smarter than that... right?_

' _Right?_ '

"I have a headache now because of you," I glared at the djinn who smirked cheekily back at me.

" **Hmph, well, pull yourself together, little Rukh. I've heard all I need. I'm opening the doors.** "

"Whatever."

I looked over my shoulder as the doors began to creak open. By the time I glanced back, Valefor was wearing his grown-up wolf skin.

I snickered. "Princess."

" **Thorn in my side.** "

Oh, it was worth every goddamn shiver in this dungeon to see the sheer shock on those faces as the brats entered.

Drakon immediately muttered something along the lines of "not again..." while Assassin-Brat instantly pointed at me in rage.

"What're you doing in here?! How'd you get ahead of us?!"

I stuck my tongue out childishly and refused to answer. Contorted-Limbs and Bulging-Muscles seemed an odd combination of amused and befuddled.

Both Valefor and I quickly locked on to Falan though.

I learned that it was actually rather disturbing to see a person with closed eyes _looking_ at you.

"Hmm, I thought I'd left you behind us," she said.

I frowned. "Valefor."

" **Already ahead of you. Don't think you can hide from my in that fake vessel of yours,** " Valefor snarled. " **I smell it, that vile stench from the other world.** "

It with no little satisfaction that I watched Valefor wrap his magoi around Falan and _squeeze_.

" **Vanish.** "

She disappeared and a doll clattered to the floor. I narrowed my eyes. Something lingered. _Falan_ lingered. Valefor drew himself up to his full height.

" **Now, I am Valefor, Djinn of Falsehood and Prestige,** " the djinn rumbled, baring his teeth and claws. " **Which of you shall be the next king?** "

Drakon recovered from the surprise of Falan's disappearance at those words and stepped forward. "I will. I shall form a pact with you."

Valefor was not so easy as Baal though. " **And if it is granted to you, what shall you do with the king's power?** "

"I will return to Parthevia to serve his majesty."

Valefor huffed and shrank. I stifled a chuckle as Valefor reduced to his real form again in disappointment. " **Augh, really? You gotta be kidding me, how disappointing. And I wasted so much energy transforming again for this.** "

 _The looks on their faces-_

"Man, rejected twice in a row," I teased. "How saddening."

" **I'm asking what you want to do when you obtain the king's power,** " Valefor complained, taking a second to halfheartedly flick the back of my head. " **If you have no desires, then you're not worthy.** "

The words hit Drakon hard.

"We finally made it. Hey Drakon!" Sinbad raced into the chamber, Hinahoho following closely behind.

They both skidded to a halt.

"Huh?" Sinbad blinked. "Aatiq?"

"Took you long enough," I beamed, realising that I'm still sprawled out on the floor. "You're always making me wait, Ponytail."

"We were looking for you," he protested, pointing an accusing finger at her.

"How sweet," I crooned. "Though the tone of your voice could use a little work."

" **Finally, it seems like we're all here,** " Valefor perked up a bit. " **The challengers of the Dungeon.** "

Valefor offered a paw to me as he began to rise. Quickly, I hoisted myself up and splayed out on my stomach, laying starfish-style across the available space with a tired huff.

"I'm in a lazy mood," was my explanation at Valefor's annoyed glance. He opted to ignore me and I knew he was only carrying me to keep me out of the way of what was happening next.

" **I'd like to give everyone a fair chance so let's say the one who passes my next test will be crowned king. The king's power is almighty. In one night, it'll destroy an entire country and grant you enough wealth to rebuild another one from scratch. Now, who will be the next king?** "

I peered idly over the edge of his paw as basically everyone in the room volunteered. Sinbad surprised them the most.

Valefor chuckled, squeezing his other paw tight. Magoi dripped from it, pooling on the ground. " **This is getting better, I can see the ambition burning in your eyes.** "

The magoi began to swirl and take shape. " **Here's your final enemy.** "

I scrambled to my feet.

" **Say hi to my offspring, Minifor.** "

I pounded Valefor's paw to get his attention before frantically pointing at the drowsy little monster.

"Cute!" I exclaimed excitedly. "Make me one, Princess!"

Everyone on the ground sweatdropped at my excitement while Valefor frowned. " **Is that going to be a permanent nickname?** "

I shrugged. "Well, you got the tiara and the attitude."

Valefor feigned dropping me and I yelped, clinging tighter to his fur and dropping back to my stomach.

"Alright, alright," I grumbled, settling down.

" **This is Minifor. The final test is to catch him.** "

They didn't seem very impressed. Valefor merely chuckled.

" **The first one to catch him obtains the power of the king.** " I pressed my lips together firmly to keep from laughing as their cries of disbelief echoed throughout the room. " **If nobody's able to catch him before the time is up, you'll be trapped inside the Dungeon forever.** "

Valefor conjured an hourglass containing water instead of sand and flipped it, starting the test.

Chaos ensued as Valefor and I sat back to enjoy it.

"Humans never change," I smirked as they all scrambled over each other.

" **That they don't,** " Valefor agreed, lounging in the air like a napping cat.

"Did humans exist in the other world?" I asked to pass the time.

Valefor blinked at me. " **What did you think Solomon was? Or many of his followers? Sheba? Ugo? Even,** " he spoke the last word like a curse, " **Arba.** "

"I was a Rukh before I was this. I will always think Solomon is something greater," I said. My gaze slid to the side. "Though I see what you mean about his followers. Even Arba must've been human once. Though, from what I've seen of her, she's not a human now. She's _evil incarnate_."

I felt my face distort in disgust at the thought of that _creature_ and the djinn eyed me cautiously. " **It is a pity you cannot pact with a djinn, little Rukh. I am most curious to see the road you take in the future.** "

The sound of Sinbad's voice caught our interest and that conversation died out before I could respond..

"Oh? I think he's trying to inspire some teamwork?" I stated, quirking an eyebrow. "Either that or he's got a plan."

" **Is he perhaps the future king you are following?** "

"That's him alright," I nodded with a resigned expression.

" **He's cunning,** " Valefor commented, almost approvingly.

I glanced up at him curiously. "Can Kings be anything but?"

The djinn didn't answer.

And when Sinbad revealed his trick, snatching the little beast out of the air just in time, I tipped my head back and laughed. My cackles echoed around the cavern as the others protested.

I missed a bit of Sinbad's speech just trying to calm down, wiping tears from my eyes as I gasped for breath.

"Ponytail... ha," I wheezed, rolling about on Valefor's paw. The djinn was listening to Sinbad's words carefully but the amusement in his eyes was apparent.

The ache in my gut easing, I looked up in time to see the rush of White Rukh, sailing on winds they could not feel. I smiled as one brushed past me and my gaze followed it up to reach Sinbad on his ledge, so very high up. Above the world.

"I ask all of you to create that country with me. And in order to make that a reality, I need support. Talented merchants, diplomats and of couse, spies. All those willing to join me in this adventure and explore the world."

 _How inspiring,_ I thought idly, counting the Rukh to pass the time. _So many speeches, so many pretty words..._

"That even includes you, Aatiq."

I choked on my own air.

"W-What?!" I coughed, pounding my chest as I stared up at him in surprise. Valefor shifted until I had a better view.

"Everyone," Sinbad repeated, firmly.

 _Ah_ , I realised. _Those eyes are dangerous._ He _is dangerous._

"I still have some way to go to fulfil my dream. I want more power, support and everything else. So, all of you, gather around me!"

I felt my eyes glow white as the dungeon snow as I met Sinbad's gaze.

 _How cunning indeed_.

Sinbad leapt down from his ledge, talking to the others and I looked up to see how Valefor was reacting. He seemed content, intrigued even.

" **Future king, hmm?** " He purred.

"As greedy as ever," I responded, unable to resist another quick glance.

Black flickered in the corner of my eye and I froze.

 _Falan lingered._

I whipped around and threw myself to the edge of Valefor's paw to see the three assassin _bleeding_ magoi, Black Rukh filtering in amongst the white.

"Valefor," I commanded, my body tense. Valefor lowered his paw enough for me to leap off and I sprinted to the group. Sinbad was closest so I pushed between him and the assassins.

"Sinbad, get back! You too, Hinahoho!" I yelled, my eyes flashing and I watched the boys cry Black Rukh.

" **I'm not allowing this in my dungeon,** " Valefor declared. " **At this rate, the demon will become whole. Sinbad, use your-** "

"Don't bother," I interrupted the djinn, seeing the expression on Sinbad's face. "He won't do it."

 _Black wings, dark magic, the death of worlds,_ _ **entire worlds**_ _-_

"Aatiq," Sinbad seemed genuinely surprised. I guess he thought I'd be the first to leap into this fight. ( _He'd be right_ )

"Don't think I agree with you," I snapped. "Those boys are in pain and that... thing is more dangerous than you can understand right now. It's reckless to delay it's destruction for you and your bloody _human morals._ "

Sinbad shut right up. I wasn't finished.

 _White hair. Freckles. Advisor to a King._

"But I don't dare argue with the future king."

 _Red string. Soft smiles._ _Advisor to a King._

My eyes darted to the rapidly disappearing figure of the kid. Assassin-Brat. He was important in the future. And if he was important, than he had to live.

"Besides, these are your precious allies. You'll need them soon enough."

 _That's right._

 _That means there's a way to save him. Not only that, but saving him is necessary. He is needed._

 _He is needed and Black Rukh are taking him and this is what you are here for so think, you nameless moron, think! No way to save him?_ Bullshit! _You are constantly lacking knowledge until the moment you need it so why should right now be any different?!_

I called to the visions, the voices who kept bugging me with slips of the future, the part of my mind that knew things. I called for something that would help. Images flashed past in a blur.

" **It's a dark magic. A terribly potent spell that turns people into demons using Black Rukh.** "

Ah, I'd missed Sinbad's question in my concentration. That's not good. I needed to stay alert. ( _the demon's existence was horribly loud_ )

"Aatiq," Sinbad frowned at me.

He looked like he realised something and great Solomon, I hoped that something was useful because I was coming up with zilch over h-

"Valefor, and Baal before that, they both called you 'little Rukh'," he remembered and _was that accusation in his eyes or curiosity?_

"Not the time," I snapped, my skull throbbing with every new image.

I was taking too long and I was so full of bullshit but there was so many images, so much _knowing, I was still_ _ **sorting**_ -

Was that concern in Valefor's eyes? _No. Focus._

 _Oh_ , I thought, licking my lips and tasting the metallic tang of blood. _My nose is bleeding. That's why._

I was quickly reminded of how strong yet how fragile this body was. It would hold in a fight but it was so complex and unbalanced, _like a broken china doll held together with strings and twine._

 _An exception of nature, a broken rule._

 _Solomon had_ _ **saved**_ _me but he couldn't_ _ **fix**_ _me._

"Aatiq, any suggestions yet?" Sinbad called. He'd moved between Drakon and the assassins (the rapidly disappearing assassins).

"What, do you need me to change your diapers too?" I snarled, a headache steadily pounding away at my patience. The demon was already taking form and I was _useless_. "You're the King's Vessel here, you won that stupid little contest and you've survived multiple years before I came along. _Figure it out._ "

Sinbad jerked back in surprise at my outburst and harsh tone and I knew I would have to apologise for that later. Not now though. My hands were full ( _my head too, so many images, so many voices- I know now why no human could possibly hold the wisdom of the Rukh. There was_ _ **too much**_ )

" **There may be a way,** " Valefor pondered.

I breathed out harshly and let the images ease up. "Well spit it out already, Princess, there's a bloody demon about to be unleashed if you hadn't noticed. And why haven't you mentioned this sooner?"

The wolf djinn frowned. " **Well, I'd much rather you'd destroy the djinn now before you risk letting it take form but if Sinbad refuses to risk his comrades lives, then this way might suffice.** "

I wiped the blood from my face, images still flickering on the inside of my eyelids every time I blinked.

" **That demon keeps the humans alive in its core and sucks the energy out of them. Destroy the core in one shot and you can save all of them,** " Valefor chimed in. " **Destroying the demon now still holds the best chance though.** "

"Not gonna happen," Sinbad instantly refused.

" **Then destroy the core.** "

I peered at him irritably then did a double-take. "Did you get a haircut or something? What's with the size downgrade?!"

Valefor, now the same size as Minifor, shrugged. " **Hmm? I'm capable of this much at least.** "

"Not what I asked, midget puppy!"

"Incoming!" Blue suddenly shouted.

The demon slammed into the ground, throwing us all back. We'd stalled too much. It was fully formed and angry.

Hmph. I was angrier.

I pushed myself to my feet and scowled.

"I won't kill them," was all I offered Sinbad as I took off towards the beast. I heard the sound of his voice behind me but I didn't stop, instead pulling up the information I'd already gathered about the demon.

Firstly, a creature like this absorbed the strength of those it consumed. Those three assassin were trained and reasonably strong. My eyes flickered down its form, analysing it as my right arm lit up in blinding white light.

" **Aim for the chest.** "

"I know!"

Strong arms, should probably avoid those. Razor blades, should probably avoid those too.

 _You know what? Let's just chuck everything into evasion until I get past its defences._

"Aatiq, what-" Sinbad managed before the beast roared and swiped a razor hand at us. I ducked beneath the swing, feeling the rush of air as it passed over me and looked back to check on the other three.

They'd leapt back in time. That's all I needed, turning back towards the demon and focusing my magoi, feeling it run down through my arm and pool in the palm of my hand, which consequently lit up like a small, white stars. White as Rukh wings.

"I couldn't help with the Dungeon, that was their path to walk." The light sparked and grew, stretching like a staff and shining brighter. I slipped through the demon's defences.

"I couldn't help with the Djinn, that was their challenge to overcome." It enlarged and I raised my arm.

The light turned to steel as I grinned.

"But a demon? Black Rukh?" I laughed boisterously at their stunned faces, brandishing a huge warhammer over my head. "Like hell I won't join in on that fight!"

I smashed it hard into the djinn's head with a cackle. It roared until it's face met the stone floor, fracturing the ground and sending chunks of rock flying.

Twirling the warhammer like it was as light and even-weighted as a mere staff, I landed lightly, using my shining, white magoi to soften the landing.

Sinbad and Blue ran to my side and I greeted them cheerily.

"Where did that thing come from?!" Blue shouted, pointing at my huge weapon.

"Oh this? Probably nowhere," I speculated, examining it. It was a little perk I'd discovered during my months with Yunan, a gift from my King. It took a lot of magoi to summon but I quickly learned that Solomon had also given me an abundance so it was rather handy.

Almost like a metal vessel, I suppose. My King had said that I had an existence similar to a djinn of sorts, though not quite the same. Perhaps this was just another similarities, a metal object through which I could channel power.

 _Or perhaps he just thought I'd like a giant metal warhammer to crush my enemies with._

I don't pretend to know how he thinks.

I just know how much I like my new toy.

"Don't worry Sinbad, if your puny little sword snaps like a twig, I'll probably swoop in to save your ass with this baby," I couldn't resist teasing, stroking my weapon lovingly.

Sinbad's jaw dropped. "My sword is not puny, you little-"

"Heads up," I interrupted, hopping back at the sight of a big black fist heading straight for us. We all leapt back and it hit the floor, smashing the rock where we had been standing.

"Ok, bad timing," I admitted. "That was probably my fault. So, anyone got a plan?"

I pursed my lips in annoyance as Sinbad charged forward, his sword crackling. "Destroy the core!"

I bit my lip. "Uh, is that it? Sure you don't want to flesh that out a bit more, huh Ponytail? Blue?"

Hinahoho rushed the demons, swiping at its sharp arm while Sinbad dodged one of the strong fists.

I sighed. "Idiots. I'm surrounded by idiots."

I guess that didn't stop me though as I sprinted in to join the fight.

Sinbad blocked a blow from a strong fist with his sword and I took the chance, jumping over his head to run up the demon's arm. Before I could reach its head though, a sharp arm moved to intercept me.

I swung my warhammer, parrying it but the force of the hit knocked me clean off. I flipped and landed on my feet, skidding a few metres. Quickly, I licked my left thumb and ran it over the scratch it had left on the flat side of my hammer. Light glowed in my thumb's wake and when it faded, the scratch was gone.

I scrunched up my nose. This was a bit tougher than I'd anticipated.

Its skin was thick and its defence pretty solid. Sinbad's sword was too small to pierce through it and reach the core and if it was as simple as 'blast a lightning attack through the beast', he would've done it by now. Sinbad wasn't that adept at his power just yet.

I could crush the core if it weren't encased in that false suit of flesh and bone. My warhammer could definitely cause damage but it couldn't pierce through to reach the core and it definitely wasn't guaranteed to miss the assassins still trapped there, the blunt weapon it was.

That left Hinahoho's spear. I paused. _That could actually work._

Much to my distaste, however, I looked over just in time to see a strong arm reach for the Imuchakk.

Stifling a groan of sheer vexation, I darted forward, knocking Blue out of the way as the hand clamped down around my arms and torso.

 _Ow._

 _Lots and lots of ow._

I dropped my warhammer and screeched as the pressure increased. I counted three snapped bones in total, one of my ribs, one of my wrists and the matching forearm. If this body were any less endurable, they probably would've been absolutely crushed alongside more.

"Son of a _bitch_!"

"Aatiq!" Sinbad called. _Oh, was that worry I hear? He does care._

"Spear!" I managed. "I'm fine! Use the spear!"

I redirected magoi to reinforce my body but I couldn't start fixing my bones until it let go or at least stopped trying to crush me.

"It'll kill her if this keeps up!" _Oh yeah, Drakon's here too. Totally forgot about him to be honest. Where's he been at?_

Another rib gave way and I tasted blood pooling on my tongue. _Ah, shit._

 _Were they regrouping? Oh yeah, sure, just have a nice little team meeting while I'm getting crushed over here. Don't mind me, really. No wait, that's just Sinbad and Drakon._

Hinahoho was rushing at the legs.

"I said," he bellowed, "you guys have done enough!"

He struck the demon's legs, seemingly angry about something again. Sinbad and Drakon had to rush in and get him out of there and oh, look at them exchanging meaningful words. _Yay. Friends forever._

 _Is that my bones creaking or am I groaning in pain? I really don't know anymore._

"Hurry the fuck up!" I howled. They split, Sinbad and Drakon approaching from either side while Hinahoho stayed back.

 _Better, better, looks like a plan to me._

The demon loosened its grip a little at the sight of the others attacking and I sucked in a sharp breath as the pressure eased. _Oh yeah, much better._

Drakon reached it first and, dodging a sharp arm, hacked into its leg with his sword. The demon focused on him angrily, leaving room for Sinbad to leap up and drive his sword into the wrist of the hand holding me. A flash of blue lightning was all it took for the demon to release me, crying out in pain and rage.

I dropped to the floor and moved to scoop up my hammer from where I'd left it.

"My baby, I'm so sorry, I'll never leave you again," I purred, rubbing my cheek against the cold metal soothingly.

"Attack the djinn, Hina will do the rest once he's ready!" Sinbad called to me as he darted past, sparing no more than a strange look for my behaviour.

"With pleasure," I smiled grimly and channeled more magoi to my weapon. The metal shimmering with light and I leapt back into the fray, smashing the demon's leg out from under it. It didn't fall but it stumbled, allowing Sinbad to slash his sword across its abdomen.

"Oh my, this just won't do." The voice still sent shivers up my spine as Falan appeared at the demon's feet. "I really should have dealt with you lot myself."

I scanned her up and down. "Another double..."

"That's right," she turned to me, eyes closed and that creepy aura persisting. "My real body is still in Parthevia. I am here under the direct command of Lord Barbossa, General of the Left. I have a message for Captain Dragul. No, not captain, I've been informed you have been promoted two ranks to lieutenant."

I channeled more and more magoi into my weapon as she exchanged words with Drakon. Those were some real love life issues, really.

" _Die like a man._ "

Sinbad and Hinahoho regrouped in front of me, looking pretty irritated as Drakon fell to his knees.

"She pisses me off."

"Ditto."

I plunged between them with a hard expression. "Hands off boys. That bitch is mine."

I lifted my warhammer and brought it down, the metal gleaming intensely with power. She flickered and vanished and I worked to keep the power in the hammer as it connected with the ground.

I lost some of it on contact but it stayed glinting with magoi when I hoisted it up again. My gaze quickly found the sorceress again and I glared.

"Oi, stay still, bitch. This'll only take a moment."

"I refuse to be bested by a monstrosity like you," Falan said, pointing her staff in my direction. ( _I could feel the others' confusion at the statement from across the room but refused to acknowledge it. They'd always have questions I couldn't - wouldn't answer_ ) I closed the distance between us before she could utter another syllable.

"Uh-uh, I'm not falling for the same trick twice," I growled. She was forced to teleport again as my hammer plunged through the space she had previously occupied.

"You guys deal with big and ugly over there," I called over my shoulder. "And I'll deal with pink and creepy, 'kay?"

"Be careful," was Sinbad's response.

"I take offence to that," I replied, unsure of whether he'd heard me as I began a pesky game of cat and mouse with the sorceress. _Side note, the stamina in this body was remarkable, I should start doing laps just to show off..._

"Urgh, stop. Fucking. Moving. You witch!" I cried with each time I landed a blow.

She kept teleporting out of the way just in time and, while I was fast enough that she couldn't get a spell in, it was really starting to bug me.

"It's about time, right Hina?!" Sinbad exclaimed and my head snapped to the right where Blue was preparing to throw his spear. The bitch took the opportunity to escape my grasp. I cursed and darted back to the others just as Drakon created an opening, digging his sword into the creature's head.

It reared back and Hinahoho threw the spear.

I swore louder as the beast just moved slightly too much. The spear lodged in its chest but didn't make it all the way through.

 _Not good._

 _Very not good._

I ran through the images in my head. _Did I miscalculate? Was this not how they were supposed to defeat it? Or Solomon forbid, did I change something?_

"Aatiq!" Sinbad called and I drove those thoughts from my mind, nodding to him as he skirted around the back of the beast. Unaware of me approaching once more, it tried to follow him, throwing Drakon off.

It wasn't quite fast enough as Sinbad bounded past it and unleashed a large, electricity-filled swipe right across its back.

It bellowed in pain and arched, thrusting out its chest.

With one last burst of speed, I leapt up, raising my hammer above me one last time, still glowing strongly from all the magoi I'd stored specially for Falan. But she wasn't in sight right now and, goddamn it, this thing needed to **die**.

The light streaked as I swung, mimicking the tail of shooting star and I connected it with the end of Blue's spear, driving it home like a hammer on a nail. My built up magoi burst in a giant blaze of pure white light.

Even I had to slam my eyes closed against it.

When I was able to look, Black Rukh was bursting forth and the sound of the beast dying was deafening.

I'd blasted a giant hole through its torso, obliterating the core.

 _Oh shit, hope I didn't kill those assassins... Sinbad would be pissed..._

"Noooo!" Falan's enraged voice broke through as I plummeted back to the ground. White light engulfed my bare, scratched up feet and I cushioned my landing like always. Maybe I put a bit too much oomph into it this time though, in all my disorientation, 'cause I had to hop twice upon reaching the ground lest my own power rebound and shatter my ankles.

I lurched as the sudden loss of all that magoi hit me and an arm wrapped around me for support. I have to admit, I was a little surprised to see it was Drakon of all people, but I welcomed the volunteered help nonetheless with half-lidded eyes.

"That much magoi..." Falan flickered back into view and pointed her staff in my direction in both fury and disbelief.

"Yeah, I used way more than necessary," I sighed. "It was meant for you but I guess it's better I used too much magoi than too little in this situation."

"But it's impossible," she screeched. "With all the magoi you used up earlier and how you're still standing... That much magoi would kill you!"

 _Well, it probably would if I were human._

I felt Drakon stiffen at her words but I merely sneered at her. "I'm a rulebreaker at heart. Now, _fuck off, you_ _ **witch**_ _._ "

Sinbad flew in from behind her and slashed his sword through her form, taking advantage of her surprise.

Two halves of a doll clattered to the ground and I breathed in relief as I felt Falan's lingering presence finally dissipate.

Still, I forced Drakon to help me wobble over to the doll and dropped my warhammer on it for good measure. Then I let the weapon disperse in a soft flash of light, revealing the doll shards.

I smiled. "Huh. I think it's an improvement."

"Are you ok?" Sinbad asked, eyes running over my drooping frame.

"Just tired," I dismissed. "Give me ten and I'll be good to go."

Drakon abruptly let me go as he noticed the three assassins' bodies nearby. ( _Cool, I didn't kill them, this is good_ ) I sank to the floor gratefully, taking a deep breath.

I smiled as I locked gazes with a concerned Hinahoho.

"Well, that was tedious, wasn't it Blue?"

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

 **Ok, so I'm thinking, this story is going to be so big. Like, we're looking at so many chapters, decently sized chapters too, right now. (Dammit Magi, even your prequel is super long) So, I might actually split it into two stories. We'll have to see how we go but at this rate, I'd probably finish Adventures of Sinbad and then post the actual major storyline with Aladdin, Alibaba, Mor, etc. as a sequel of sorts to, uh, Aatiq's adventures.**

 **Lol, she's gonna change names so much, that is literally the second major reason I decided to do this story in first person. I didn't want to confuse any readers because her name changes every few chapters. She's only gonna have Arabic names but I'm actually choosing them based on their meanings. I'll probably start giving you their meanings in these little author notes, if and when I remember to. For instance, Aisha means 'one who is characterised by success' or in some cases, it can also mean 'living'. And Aatiq means a 'very young woman', and for boys, it means 'liberated' or 'free'. I like to think they fit my girl pretty well during the time she goes by them. Some meanings are just for fun but some meanings will be a bit of a clue in to her mental state so it's up to you whether you wanna keep checking for the meanings. Also, if you want to know the meaning of any of her names and I forget and you don't wanna go look it up, you can always pm me or leave a review.**

 **Ok, I'm rambling again so I'll end it there.**

 **Until next time,**

 **\- Dragon**


	6. A Spider's Thread for a Sinner

**And thus, the next chapter! This'll be the last time we hear of 'Aatiq'. I personally like her next name more than this one. Anyway, reviews!**

 **Galarvis - Yeah, poor Yunan. He's higher up on my list of favourite characters but it's just too easy, I can't help myself**

 **Akira D. Ryusuke - Thanks so much! I love the series too and I'm sad to see there aren't enough SI's for it. And I'm glad you like Little Rukh, she's probably one of my more developed and favourite characters. I hope you continue to enjoy my story and thanks again!**

 **curlystruggle - Yayyy, that's the aim. It's true, Yunan is amazing. I'm trying really hard to write him well...**

 **Well, let's just get right into it!**

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

" **You're such a lazy little Rukh.** "

Small paws prodded at my back.

I grunted. "Fuck off. I don't seeing you doing much, you furball."

" **I told you how to save them, didn't I? I don't care much for how humans conduct themselves so that was a favour on my account.** "

"Fuck. Off."

" **Lazy and rude Rukh.** "

"You heard them call by my name, didn't you?" I scowled, peering at him from behind my white curtain of hair. "You don't see me calling you 'Djinn' every thirty seconds. I'm not even a Rukh anymore."

" **I've been listening. It's an insignificant name that you will probably abandon like your last one, why should I call you by it?** " Valefor sniffed. " **I could give you a thousand names, if you'd like. Messenger of the King? Carver of Fate? Breaker of Worlds? Far more fitting if you ask-** "

"Aatiq."

The djinn was interrupted by Sinbad approaching. Sending the boy an indignant glance, Valefor huffed and stalked away, leaving us to talk.

I watched him with a baleful expression before turning to my ally. "Ponytail."

He must have so many questions.

"Are you injured?" He smiled cheerily and I frowned. That wasn't the kind of question I was expecting but sure.

"Nothing that will last," I answered warily.

"That's good," he commented. "What kind of a man would I be if I let such a lovely girl with such beauty b-"

"If you're looking to flirt, I think Drakon over there just got his heart broken," I cut him off, uninterested in this meaningless small talk. "If you act quickly, you can be a rebound. Might even get laid."

His smile became a little strained at my crudeness, even more so at the suggestion. I closed my eyes, wanting nothing more than to nap and wait for my magoi to return. I still had about a third of my reserves left but even that was probably less than I'd like, especially considering that we still weren't out of this stupid, freakin' dungeon.

As if summoned to prove me right, a yell brought my attention to Assassin-Brat's body, still emitting those _fucking Black Rukh._

"That bitch is like a bloody cockroach..." I muttered in frustration, climbing to my feet.

"How come..." Sinbad blanched.

" **He's falling,** " Valefor commented beside me in disbelief. " **How can he already be falling?** "

Some people fall. Most people are pushed.

"I think he was pushed," I murmured, mostly to myself, as my eyes flickered around the room. She had to still be here somewhere. Small enough, quiet enough that I couldn't sense her. Like a bug in the dark.

Soft echoes of laughter filled my ears and I flinched. "You may have destroyed the core, but I can make a new one with this human as a perfect power source. With this, I can regenerate the magical beast as many times as I want."

I pursed my lips, chewing on my tongue thoughtfully.

"What a pity. You were so close."

A determined look plastered itself on Sinbad's face and he stepped forward. I knew that look. It was a I'm-about-to-do-something-stupid-because-it's-the-right-thing face. Also known as the Sinbad-special. Great.

" **Can it be...?** " Valefor blinked and gasped in realisation. " **Stop! A human's body can't-** "

Sinbad raised his hand, ready to plunge into the storm of Black Rukh, and I tuned the rest of the djinn's words out as I moved.

"Wait." He paused in surprise as a pale hand came to rest on his arm. I smiled at him as my gaze shimmered white yet again. My eyes paled and gleamed, two stars amongst lightning, two white birds in a storm of black wings. I still had a third of my magoi, after all. I could do this much. "Allow me."

He was confused, understandably. "Aatiq?"

 _Yeah_ , I thought, _I'm definitely going to ditch that name. It comes with far too many questions now._

"I can't save him, only you can, but I can lessen the burden. I'll be a safety net of sorts," I explained, my grip tightening as I pooled more magoi from the well within me. "If you fail, I can help you return."

Sinbad cracked a grin that resembled a bit of a grimace. "What's with the lack of faith? I won't let myself fail."

I smirked. "Let's chalk it up to trust issues then. Now hurry the fuck up, we don't have all day."

He raised his hand once more and thrust it into the chaos. I held fast to his wrist and wrapped my magoi around the both of us, like glimmering white threads.

I felt something, like the pull of a vacuum, _tugging_ at my power until our surroundings lit up and fell away.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

Sights and sounds bombarded us from all sides and I made sure not to let Sinbad go.

"What is this?!" Sinbad called, looking around in awe.

 _Smiling shadows. Bloody hands. Cloaked faces._

" **Memories.** "

A familiar voice answered for me and I perked up. I knew that magoi.

"Baal," I exclaimed cheerily. "Old man, how you been doing?!"

" **Little Rukh...** " Baal's presence lingered about us as we fell through the whirlwind of memories. " **I see you are guiding my Master through this turmoil. Allow me to assist.** "

I loosened my power as his took its place. I focused instead on the string of magoi unspooling behind us, a safe and secure connection to our bodies.

I had infused as much of my magoi into Sinbad's body as I could without hurting him, reinforcing his mortal ass so that he wasn't ripped apart or anything. With his power free, Baal was now able to guide us directly to where we needed to go.

The risk to Sinbad was minimal with both Baal and I here. _That reminds me..._

I took a breath and closed my eyes, letting my senses expand throughout the space.

 _There._

I zeroed in on Falan's presence and struck hard.

It was all essence and spirit in here, the very stuff I was carved from. It was too easy to drive her out without even alerting Sinbad to her presence.

 _This is my domain._ _ **Get out.**_

In Parthevia, Falan cried out in pain as her crystal ball cracked and _shattered_. "No!"

I withdrew my senses back, satisfied. I had severed her link to the brat, the conscious part of her still here through that _thing_ she'd implanted in the assassins. It was through this that she'd spoken to us earlier and it was through this that she would've controlled the demon.

She couldn't control the demon now, so if we could just keep it from being formed, then our job here would be done. I added 'make sure that she's properly severed from those other two assassins' to my mental checklist of things to do later. The stupid list was steadily growing the longer I was in this body.

" **My Lord,** " Baal was addressing Sinbad now as I redirected my spare energy into that connecting thread. " **I am directing you to the child's subconscious. Frankly speaking, you must save the boy. If you leave him like this, he will fall and never return from the darkness.** "

I sensed we were nearing our destination and let the boy go, trusting Baal to guide him through the last stretch. Sinbad twisted to face me as I started to lag behind.

I shrugged in response to his unspoken question. "Someone has to pull the thread from the other end. I'll deal with those pesky Black Rukh too, while I'm at it. You just get the kid out."

I wasn't here to change the path, only to make it easier. Clear some of the obstacles, if you will. It was still his path to follow in the end. Besides, what was minutes in here was seconds in reality. He would likely wake up right after I would.

Sinbad nodded and disappeared into the light while I began to follow the thread back. I'd left it wrapped around his wrist, still unspooling.

" **Goodbye little Rukh.** "

"Seeya later, Baal."

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

The moment I opened my eyes, I unleashed a wave of light to obliterate the Black Rukh already surrounding us.

"Aatiq!" Blue yelled from somewhere behind me but I ignored him. I needed to concentrate.

Keeping a firm hold on my power, I didn't let the light dissipate, instead curling it around us like a hurricane. I herded the storm of Black Rukh in until the only thing pushing the others back was the violent winds.

 _This is not fun. I am not having fun right now._

 _Stop whining,_ a helpful (yet very unhelpful) voice in the back of my head spoke, _you're the one who wanted to fight._

My muscles and body strained as a sharp headache formed.

"Fuckin' die already," I roared, slamming the light together and forcing it down into the vacuum.

It evaporated any Black Rukh it touched, and I vaguely heard Sinbad shouting something beside me. He'd returned but my thread was still there.

 _Had he...?_

Yes, he had. He'd removed my thread, placing it on Jafar, and pulled himself back out with Baal's power.

 _Sneaky_.

I pulled on the thread, letting Sinbad's lightning deal with the last of the Rukh as I took hold of my thread and dragged the brat out.

"Goddamn it, you brat!" I howled. "Everyone's waiting for you so _hurry the fuck up already!_ "

The thread went taut

 _and_

 _ **s**_

 _ **n**_

 _ **a**_

 _ **p**_

 _ **p**_

 _ **e**_

 _ **d.**_

 _Well_ , I thought as the light blinded everyone in the room, knocking me back a few steps, _if he's not out by now then he's gone._

The white faded slowly and I dropped to my knees, exhausted. And there, surrounded by slowly evanescing magoi, was the brat, his wrist firmly in Sinbad's grasp.

"Hey, you still breathing?" Sinbad looked almost as tired as I did. I felt even worse.

I stifled a groan as the brat sniffled and tears left a damp trail in bandages.

"... yeah."

 _Thank fuck,_ I fell flat on my back, satisfied that it was finally over. My magoi was much lower than I'd like after all that and I was so, very tired.

" **Take a nap, little Rukh,** " Valefor settled beside me, watching as the others tackled those two in relief. " **You've earned it today.** "

"But if I fall asleep now, I won't get to say goodbye," I teased halfheartedly.

Urgh, my _bones_ ached. He fondly flicked my nose in response. " **That was as good a goodbye as any. Sleep. I will choose a king now, while you rest.** "

"Like there was ever really a choice."

I yawned and closed my eyes. The last thing I heard before I faded away was his amused chuckle and I didn't wake up for days.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"Aatiq!" Sinbad yelled, jabbing his finger in my direction accusing. "You're supposed to be resting."

I sneered and downed the last of my bottle of booze. "Just 'cause you're a lightweight, don't mean I can't have some fun!"

"Oi!"

I had slept for days, during which it seemed my magoi had replenished, fixed up my broken bones and replenished again. ( _This really was the best body_ )

I awoke to festivities outside and a doctor who, in my opinion, was a little high strung. He stopped bugging me though the moment he realised that my arm and ribs had healed in a matter of days. That gave me the chance to slip past him.

 _Like hell I'm not going to join in on the party after what I've just been through for that pesky future king._

Sinbad soon found me toasting with some Imuchakk warriors and catching up on what I'd missed. Hence the irritable pestering.

Hinahoho didn't seem to mind my involvement as he appeared soon after with a bottle and Sinbad quickly gave on arguing with me.

"This is a congratulatory drink as proof of our appreciation," Blue announced, filling Sinbad's cup. He merely laughed boisterously as I rejected the cup and took the bottle instead, calling for another one.

"The warrior's sake cup is a choice alcohol in our village, given only to honoured warriors," he explained as I took a greedy gulp. "It would bring me great joy if you were to accept it."

"Shit that's good," I muttered, looking up to see Ponytail staring blankly at Blue.

"Wimp," I scoffed, taking another swig.

"Do you hate it?" Blue inquired. He grinned. "Perhaps this congratulatory cup is too early for a kid like you."

"No, no, this is fine," Sinbad protested, a look of concentration on his face. "I'll be the king of a country some day, I can't go around rejecting a traditional toast."

The extra bottle arrived and I grinned, taking one last mouthful before shoving the half finished bottle into his hands and taking the extra for myself. He fumbled with it for a second, panic flashing in his eyes as he eyed the amount of alcohol I'd given him.

"Great, finish this one up for me then," I chortled, filling a cup for Blue and chugging half of the rest. I thought I heard him mutter something like ' _demon_...' under his breath for a moment but decided it was probably my imagination.

Ponytail gulped. "Bring it on. This is no big deal."

Aww, I thought he looked kind of cool when he said that but the effect quickly faded when he slumped, red-faced and practically unconscious, minutes later.

Slowly, I eased the first bottle from his arms, snickering. "Maybe that was a bit much, yeah?"

"Definitely a kid," Blue commented, finishing his cup.

I refilled it and downed the last of Sinbad's bottle instantly.

"Wimp~" I snorted.

Blue and I toasted cheerily. It seemed he'd gotten over his little issue with Sinbad and I found that he was far more enjoyable to be around when he wasn't all stressed out. We'd only been drinking for less than half an hour when something one of the Imuchakks mentioned earlier flashed across my mind and I turned a sly grin on Blue.

"Say... what was it I heard about you _proposing_...?" I asked cheekily. "You got a girl, do ya, Blue?"

He froze in dread at my expression.

"Spill!"

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

I liked Rurumu.

She had _spunk_.

I mean, I had skipped out on that meeting where Blue got permission to marry her and Sinbad had somehow managed ( _cunning_ ) a monopoly agreement for Imuchakk goods with the king but she seemed cool.

I particularly liked her right now as I watched her beat Jafar and Sinbad into the ground while trying to teach them some manners.

"Rurumu-Chop!"

 _Bam!_

I snickered.

"Jafar, haven't I told you not to use such foul language?" The woman scolded, Jafar's corpse twitching on the floorboards in front of her. Sinbad was pale as cloud nearby, sitting upright for the first time since I'd met him and trembling.

I lounged nearby, enjoying the show.

She turned to me next. "And you, Aatiq, you're so unladylike. Come here, I'll teach you the proper etiquette when addressing your superiors."

"No need," I mumbled around a yawn. At their inquisitive looks, I smiled and stretched my back out like a cat before returning to my former splayed out position. "Just 'cause I don't act like a lady, doesn't mean I don't know how."

It was true. For some reason, Solomon had thought general etiquette and education would be useful or necessary or something. It was all there in my head.

After my little breakdown in the dungeon, having been overwhelmed by my own knowledge, I'd been slowly sorting through what I know. The stuff about the future and the past was still messy and scattered a bit through my head but I was steadily making my way through things like skills and general information.

Rurumu frowned, clearly doubting me. "Really? Well, then let's see your posture."

She patted a spot beside her. I sighed and stood.

Sinbad and Jafar gaped in disbelief as I assumed correct posture and drifted over, gracefully folding my legs beneath me as I sat. I was careful to keep it a perfect imitation of Rurumu's example earlier. She was pleasantly surprised.

"How is your literacy?" She checked, sliding a scroll across the table.

She had me read out finance scrolls and business reports to check my literacy with both letters and numbers, tested my general education, culture, geography, social studies, maths, etiquette and speech and made me walk with perfect posture from one end of the ship to the other and back again before she was satisfied.

"That's more than enough," she confirmed with a warm smile. I couldn't resist a cheeky smirk directed to the boys as she turned to them, her expression darkening.

They quivered fearfully.

"Unlike Aatiq here, you boys have a _very long way to go_!"

I smugly plunked down to the side and leaned against the wooden mast to watch the show.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

Sinbad managed to corner me a few days later.

I'd been avoiding him but you can only dodge someone so much and for so long when you're stuck on a ship with them.

Truthfully, I'd been meaning to slip away from the group back at the Imuchakk port but there were no other ships departing at the time and Sinbad had been keeping an eye on me since the festival.

My visions had eased significantly, letting me know that there wasn't any immediate trouble for a while now. Only the issue that our time in the dungeon had left Sinbad with a few too many questions.

Hence, why he slipped into my room late one night after the others had gone to sleep.

I eyed him warily, having already changed into some night clothes kindly provided by the Imuchakk and currently folding my day clothes up. As I folded, I felt his gaze burning into my back.

 _Damn. Nowhere to run._

Hoping to distract him, I instantly remarked, "I don't care how hot you are or that I'm probably the only unmarried girl on this boat, I'm not gonna sleep with you."

Sinbad turned red and spluttered, caught off guard. "W-What?! Of course not! What the hell?!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Well, what were you thinking when you entered my room, late at night, alone?" I enunciated each point, enjoying the way he flinched guiltily at each one.

"It's not like that," he protested. I hummed disbelievingly and went back to folding.

"Really," he insisted. "I just... I have questions."

"I probably won't answer them, but if you want, ask away," I replied, finishing up and leaving the folded clothes on the end of my bed. It was a small room, no wardrobe or anything, just a bed and a chair really. As a result, even though he lingered by the door, we weren't very far apart. I kept my back to him for now, taking the time to properly school my expressions.

"In both Dungeons, you disappeared halfway through and then showed up in the djinn's main chamber long before any of us reached it," Sinbad stated. "How?"

 _Oh, he sounds pretty serious._

"I asked," was my immediate answer. He paused.

"Then why'd they let you in?"

I smirked, turning to face him. "How would I know? I'm sure they had their own reasons, so why don't you ask them?"

"Ok. What's a Rukh?"

I appraised him thoughtfully. "Yeah, not sure I'm allowed to tell you yet. Next question."

He took it in stride. "Allowed? Does that mean you work for someone?"

"Next."

"What was that light you used?"

"Next."

"It looked like a djinn's power. Are you a Capturer too?"

"Next."

"Why do your eyes glow sometimes?"

"Next."

"How did you pull Jafar out with that glowy thread thing?"

"Next."

"How'd you summon that weapon before?"

"Next."

"You refer to humans like you aren't one. What are you?"

"Next."

"What did you talk with the Djinn about?"

"Next."

"What's your real name?"

"Next."

He breathed out an irritated sigh. "Can you answer any of my questions?"

"Sure," I smiled. "I just answered this one."

He took a moment to think, like I was a riddle to be solved. "Will you help me make my dream a reality?"

 _There's that cunning I was waiting for._

"We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?" My smile widened. He finally seemed to realise how pointless this was. I would give him no answers right now.

 _Serves him right for trying to corner me too,_ I thought smugly. "Is that all? I'm not in these night clothes because they make me look good, you know. Though they are quite nice. Actually, you know what, about what I said earlier about sleeping with-"

"Ok, good night," Sinbad interrupted quickly.

"Huh." I blinked as he fled the room. "Is he scared of me or something...? From what I remember, he's supposed to be all suave and hormone-driven... wait, how old is he again?"

I shrugged and climbed into my bed. Oh well, wasn't really any of my business. Besides, if it keeps him from asking more questions, then it works out better for me.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"Come and have a look! Don't miss it! We got lots of rarities directly imported from the mysterious lands of Imuchakk and now is the only chance to get them!"

Sinbad's voice boomed throughout the busy streets and I dropped a giant plate of fish in front of him cheerily. I was so bored after weeks on that godforsaken boat that I happily volunteered to help unload all the Imuchakk merchandise.

The stupid little comments of ' _oh, you don't have to, little miss_ ' and ' _we wouldn't want you to get hurt now, little girl_ ' were quickly silenced as I piled three sacks of merchandise on top of a full wooden box and proceeded to heft it all into my arms. The Imuchakk gaped as I smugly carried it all down the ramp, not even breaking a sweat.

In my short time here, I'd quickly figured out that it was no good to argue about my strength with others. I might as well just show them and shut them up that way. To be fair, this body was built of more durable stuff than an average human body. If I were a human girl of my body mass, it would probably be physically impossible for me to possess the strength I do.

I still liked showing off though, if only to see the hilarious looks on their faces.

"Where'd you find this girl, Sin?!" One of the Imuchakk called out as I passed with a stack of five sacks. "She's amazing!"

"Eh?" Sinbad blinked. I paused on the spot at his following mischievous smile. "Oh, Aatiq? I found her jumping off cliffs so she could ride some dragons in a dungeon a while back."

 _Yep, there's those faces._

The Imuchakk froze on the spot, his expression twisting as he tried to figure out whether Ponytail was joking or not. When he couldn't tell, he slowly turned to face me, as if I would share a laugh and tell him Ponytail was joking. Instead, I smirked, winked and went on my way. It wasn't a lie after all.

We started to set up shop the moment we'd found a good spot and once the others had finished marvelling at their surroundings.

I scoffed as Sinbad instantly took to earning business by charming any and all ladies in sight.

 _Really. What an idiot._

As the girls gushed over him, I searched the skies. Hmm... I think I'll try heading north. Of course, I'd need to find a map somewhere along the way.

"Hey Aatiq!" Sinbad's voice stopped me in my tracks and I threw an innocent glance over my shoulder.

Ponytail's eyebrow quirked upwards. "Where're you heading off to? Aren't you going to help us sell all this?"

I sniffed. "Of course! Seeing as you've all flirted with all the females on this street and I've never explored Reim before, I figured I'd take a little walk and advertise our merchandise elsewhere."

Seemingly reassured, though a little suspicious, Sinbad shrugged and beamed. "Ok! Don't take too long!"

I smirked and waved, turning away.

Before I turned the corner, I cast one last look at the group.

Then I moved out of sight and kept walking.

We'd meet again.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

 **Yes, she did just ditch them. She 100% ditched them. She will 100% ditch them frequently throughout this story.**

 **Anyway, I have (stupidly) decided to take on three stories at once right now so my updates are slowing down but that's probably for the best. I was writing like 3 chapters a day, including editing. That's got to affect quality, right? To be fair, I think my chapters are also getting longer... oh well!**

 **Until next time,**

 **\- Dragon**


	7. Weakness Numero Uno

**Ok, another fairly big chapter. And more reviews!**

 **curlystruggle - So I actually hadn't seen that meme before you pointed it out but then I looked it up and she did, didn't she?! That made my day**

 **IsraAl'Attia-Theron - Yeah, poor Yunan... he just makes it too easy. As for how things will progress between her and Sinbad and how she affects the story... Mwahahahaha, it'll be fun. I'm pretty sure we'll be departing from canon soon so we'll see.**

 **Dame Amaryllis - Thanks so much! Aatiq/Raida is definitely a fun character to write too. I'm happy you like the story, hope you continue to enjoy it!**

 **Lalal768 - Yayyy, thanks!**

 **Jenny - Aww, thanks so much! That's really great to hear and I'm so glad you like it!**

 **I love reviews. I really do. Please, please, if you haven't already, or even if you have, leave a review! They make my day! Thanks so much to those who have already reviewed, you guys are the best! Anyway, on with the chapter!**

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

I was exploring the streets when the brat ran into me. Or did I run into him? I wasn't sure.

One moment, I was walking and the next, something thudded against my legs and I looked down to see a kid on the floor in front of me.

"Hmm?" I blinked, crouching low to meet his gaze. The kid flushed bright red and avoided my eyes. "Hey brat, what are you doing out here alone?"

The kid didn't reply at first so, after a moment of waiting, I held out my hand to help him up.

"Well?" I prompted once we were both on our feet.

"I... lowing... ther," he muttered something softly. I frowned.

"You gotta speak up, brat," I commanded. "Answering won't mean a thing if I can't hear you."

"I was following my brother," the kid murmured, a bit louder this time, "but I lost him."

"So you're lost then," I concluded.

"No," he protested at a much better volume before quietening again. "No, I was looking for him but I can't find him."

I hummed thoughtfully. "Do you think he'd head home by now? Or would he be looking for you?"

The kid shook his head. "He didn't know I followed him."

"Ok," I shrugged. "Well, how about you head home then. He's bound to show up sooner or later."

"O-Ok," he stammered.

Nobody moved. He didn't move. I didn't move because I was waiting for him to move. Now that I think about it, he may have been waiting for me to move. Either way, nobody was moving and we were just standing there, wasting precious moments of our goddamn lives.

 _For Solomon's sake..._

When it became evident that nothing was happening, I rolled my eyes in exasperation. "Come on. I'll walk you but I don't know where you live so you'll have to lead."

Holding my hand out to him seemed to break his stupor and the boy took it hesitantly. I filled the silence as he began to lead the way home.

"So, brat, what's your name?"

"Huh? O-Oh, uh, I'm Spartos."

"Cool. You can call me Raida."

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"Raida!"

I jolted in surprise as hands grasped at my arm. The bags in my fingers nearly slipped free as my friend came into view, seemingly very excited.

"Omaira?" I blinked, regaining my grip quickly enough. "Geez, calm down. You nearly made me drop the groceries that you sent me to get, remember?"

"But I have gossip," Omaira whined. Still, she let go, instead taking one of the heavier bags to help lighten the load. I adjusted the other bags into a better position and resumed walking as she fell into step beside me.

"Well then, gossip away," I remarked.

"There's a new group of foreigners in Sasan," Omaira launched into her story quickly. I smirked knowingly.

Omaira may be a mere waitress but she was the heart of all gossip in the kingdom of Sasan. She was the kind who could make friends no matter where she went. It was because of this that she was able to worm her way into being my friend so quickly and it was because of this that she was able to slip me through the whole foreigner-local barrier so easily. No one spoke against me as a foreigner because no one wanted to upset Omaira.

It was also because of her vast network of friends that she was always one of the first to hear the best gossip in the kingdom.

"Apparently, they're merchants looking to establish some sort of base or something in Sasan but they were totally shut down and-" Omaira rambled.

I cut her off quickly, knowing that she could get caught up in details easily. I wasn't interested in the little stuff.

"So what?" I chuckled. "People enter Sasan practically every other day hoping to establish roots only to be turned away. That's not gossip."

Omaira pouted. "Hey, Raida, you're so impatient. Let me finish at least."

"Alright, alright," I backed off, smiling cheekily.

"Anyway," she huffed, "it's more exciting than that because they managed to make a big scene in front of the Knight-King!"

I faltered.

"What, really?" I gaped. "Who would be that daft?! Even I know not to make so much of a fuss if I don't want to be driven out of the kingdom and I don't exactly have the best self-control..."

I frowned.

 _Actually, now that I think about it, this particular brand of stupidity sounds pretty familiar..._

"Yeah, I know right! That's what I said!" Omaira continued excitedly. "It was some weird, purple-haired guy too and he was accompanied by this huge blue-haired guy and this tiny freckled kid."

I resisted the urge to groan, instead letting my head slump forward in exasperation.

 _Of course it was them. Who else but them could be so utterly moronic...?_

"They made a fuss at the front gate of the knights' order earlier today too. They seem funny," Omaira hummed, a satisfied aura about her now that she had successfully shared the gossip with someone. She seemed oblivious to the dark cloud of sheer vexation surrounding me.

 _Those freakin' idiots... What were they expecting to happen?_ Though, Jafar and Hinahoho were probably the more reasonable ones in their group, so it was likely that a majority of the fault laid with Sinbad. _As always._

"Hey, Omaira," I spoke up. "Do you think you could sneak me into some of the foreigner bars tonight?"

"Oh?" Omaira perked up curiously. "Sure, no problem."

She paused in realisation and sent me a sly side glance. "Say, could you possible want to meet these guys? Oh, that's so you Raida, always so adventurous. Just don't go causing too much trouble!"

"Actually," I sighed, "I'm pretty sure I know the imbeciles."

"Ehh? Really?!" Omaira's golden-brown eyes went wide in surprise. "Do you really?! Spill, Raida, spill! I need details!"

"Relax, they're not all that," I moaned, drifting away from her as she suddenly filled with energy. I felt exhausted just at the thought of them and the messes they get into.

"I'll go with you and meet them!"

"Absolutely not! I don't want you catching their stupidity!"

"Raida!"

"No!"

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

It took over an hour to convince her to stay home. After all, I refused to risk her meeting them and being drawn into whatever those morons were about to start in Sasan.

 _Red hair. Silver steel. A mountain carved by lightning._

Luckily, there weren't that many foreigner bars in Sasan. I found them in the second bar I checked, boisterously enjoying themselves with... was that the Knight-King's son?

Yeah, their cheerfulness made much more sense now.

As I drew closer, I realised Sinbad was telling him stories about his adventures so far.

Well, this was as good a way to catch up with them as anyway. Avoiding their attention, I edged around the bar and took a seat nearby, just far enough to be looked over as they went on talking but close enough to hear everything.

It wasn't until near the end that I announced myself.

"So you met and befriended the King of Balbadd, huh? Impressive," I complimented.

"Certainly, miss," Sinbad exclaimed, too caught up in his storytelling to really pay attention to whoever had just spoken.

Jafar noticed first. He froze, gaping like a fish out of water in her direction.

Blue noticed pretty quickly too, pointing at me in shock. "A-A-A-A-Aatiq!"

Sinbad froze in shock at his exclamation, twisting to see me smiling in their direction. Unfortunately, he ended up losing balance and toppling from the table. _There's the idiot I know._

"Didn't Rurumu teach you that pointing's rude, Blue?" I teased.

"Aatiq?" Their sole audience member wondered aloud. "No, no, that's not Aatiq. That's Raida."

"Mystras Leoxses," I greeted coolly. "I see you're running around breaking the rules again."

The boy flushed and avoided my gaze. "I, uh..."

"Though, judging by the constant blushing and glances that the barmaid keeps sneaking at Ponytail, I'm guessing he already charmed her into letting you stick around for a bit," I deduced. "Don't worry too much. I break the rules far too often to be turning you in or anything."

"You two know each other," Jafar questioned, looking fairly confused. At this point, I stood and made my way to their table.

"Yeah, Mystras here has a penchant for cornering foreigners," I explained, much to the redhead's embarrassment. "He found me on my second night here, wanted to know about all the places I'd visited so far. Of course, we only talked for about twenty minutes before he got dragged off."

"I just really want to know about the outside world," Mystoras protested. "I don't corner fore-"

"He's a total dork," I finished, helping myself to their food.

I paused, mouth full, as a hand landed heavily on my shoulder. I slowly peered over my shoulder as a shadow loomed over me.

"A little walk, huh?" Sinbad chuckled darkly and I swallowed my food, blinking curiously at him.

"What are you going on about now, Ponytail?" I grumbled around another mouthful.

"You said a little walk!" Sinbad yelled, shaking me like a ragdoll in rage. "If you wanted to leave, you couldn't let us know so we didn't worry about you!"

I quickly put an end to that shit by digging my fist harshly into his head, forcing him to drop me with a yelp of pain. "Oi, stop that, ya little- huh?"

I stopped, his words registering in my head. "Wait, you were worried?"

"Of course we were, idiot," Sinbad exclaimed. Jafar and Hinahoho nodded in agreement too and I blinked. "Did you really think we wouldn't be?!"

 _So many visions, so much future... and she never saw herself._

"Oh," I said dumbly. "Well, yeah. I guess I did."

Sinbad faltered, caught off guard by my answer.

"Moron," Jafar scoffed in his place. "How could you think otherwise?"

"What made you leave without telling us anyway?" Blue inquired.

I frowned defensively and jabbed a thumb in Sinbad's direction. "Well, he spouted all this crap about us being allies and kept trying to drag me into his country, so I figured he wouldn't like me leaving! So I didn't say anything, less drama that way."

Sinbad sulked. "Don't blame this all on me!"

"Well, no harm done I guess," Jafar said slowly.

Blue agreed. "Yeah, just don't forget to let us know if you want to go off on your own again. You really did give us a scare."

I pursed my lips. "Brats. Fine, I'll let you guys know next time I take off, ok? No big deal."

I ignored the warm feeling welling up in my chest as they finally seemed satisfied. I left before any of them that night.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

It took a day for them to stuff everything up. I don't know how they did it or, really, how they keep doing it but they have a talent for it.

All I knew is that the next day, a familiar little redhead brat came running up to me in a panic.

This should be a new record.

"Spartos?" I frowned, surprised at the kid's sudden appearance. Since that day not even two weeks ago, when I'd first walked him home, he'd shown up every now and again. Sometimes, he'd have been following his brother but also sometimes he came to visit me. The kid was stressed for his age, that much was obvious.

I liked the brat. He was cute.

"R-Raida," he stammered hurriedly, tugging on my sleeve desperately. "You have to help him! You said you could fight, right? Help my brother, please!"

"Kid, calm down," I took his hand and placed my other one of his shoulder. "Use actual words."

"I didn't know who else to go to!" Spartos wailed. "My brother's challenging the Knight-King so he can leave the Sasan Knights! They'll kill him!"

I took a brief moment to compose myself - _those goddamn simpletons_ \- before giving him a firm nod.

"Ok, Kid, lead the way."

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

Mystras had already fought his way through the Knights and was loudly challenging the Knight-King when we arrived.

I wasn't too worried, as I spotted Sinbad and company nearby. If Sinbad was here, then things would go as they needed.

Or he would fuck everything up even more so than he already did.

 _No, no, future king, remember? It'll be fine._

 _Ah, who am I kidding? We're all doomed..._

Spartos tugged on my hand hastily, pulling me towards the fight. I stayed where I was, instead using his tight grip to keep him close to me and out of the way.

"I thought you would help fight," he cried out when it became clear that I wasn't going to intervene.

"Hey, your brother's pretty strong, right?" I questioned. He hesitated and I repeated myself.

"Y-Yeah..." he mumbled.

"And he really wants to go explore the world, right?" I asked.

"Yeah..."

"Then shouldn't he at least get a chance to fight for his dream?" I continued with a convincing smile ( _pretty words, just like-_ ). He gave my hand one last tug before giving in completely, shooting one last look at the fight as Mystoras charged at his father.

I bobbed down to the brat's height and laid a hand on his head affectionately. "Don't worry, if he's in trouble, I'll swoop in and save him but until then, let's just let him selfishly fight for what he wants."

"Ok..." Spartos agreed, albeit reluctantly. I stood up and hauled him closer, letting him bury his face in my stomach.

"Here, you don't have to look," I said. "Just trust me and close your eyes."

He nodded against my abdomen and I gently rested my palms over his ears, helping to mute the sounds of clashing metal.

Sinbad caught my eye as I looked up and smirked at the sight. I scowled back in annoyance and he quickly averted his gaze.

 _Goddamn it, it wasn't my fault the brat was so tiny and cute._

 _Fuck, Ponytail was going to hold this over me for a while..._

The fight wasn't long anyway. Soon enough, Mystras was knocked to the ground and I tensed, ready to interfere as the Knight-King raised his lance. There was no need though, as Sinbad stepped up instead, introducing himself and the power of his djinn.

I debated whether or not to remove my hands from Spartos' ears as Sinbad spoke but ended up leaving them. _Who knows what Sinbad'll whip out next. Best to just tell the brat what happened later on._

I almost removed them a minute later though if only to be able to facepalm as Ponytail struck yet another deal.

Most people thought his weapon of choice was his djinn or his sword. I thought it was his words.

 _Pretty speeches, pretty words and an occasional display of power. That's all it is._

Still, I was fairly impressed when he revealed his newly-mastered djinn equip (even if he was taking the chance to show off like a peacock in heat). Though I was more focused on what was behind him, or more accurately, on his...

"Is that a tail?" I squinted. _Yep, that was a tail. A big, blue lizard tail. Also, where the fuck did his shirt go?_

 _He does have nice muscles though..._

 _Not the time, Raida._

I covered Spartos with my arms quickly as Sinbad unleashed a brilliant blue flash of lightning. I winced at the loud crash of thunder as it made contact with the Knight-King's shield.

There was a huge hole in the roof once the attack had faded.

I openly gaped. I had thought I got angry with Sinbad at times, but I probably had nothing on the people who had to constantly rebuild and repair the messes he kept making, particularly to the architecture of wherever he visited.

It got worse, as Ponytail proceeded to clasp firmly onto the Knight-King's shield and fly upwards, exiting straight through the hole and taking to the sky.

There was a brief awkward moment of silence.

 _Did he just... kidnap the Knight-King...?_

The knights began to mutter amongst themselves in awe and mild panic, a great deal of them seeming conflicted between turning on the foreigners, going after kidnapper or simply waiting for the Knight-King to return.

Eventually, they resigned themselves to waiting. It was the reasonable choice, I supposed. They couldn't just attack the foreigners, especially after the Knight-King accepted a one-on-one battle. They probably didn't particularly want to either, after Sinbad's little display. On the other hand, they had essentially no method of following Ponytail through the roof and sky.

Result? We're waiting.

 _Fuck this._

I took the opportunity to pry the kid's hands from around my hips and get his attention. "Oi, Kid, Sinbad's gonna take care of this for us. Why don't we take a walk?"

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"You calm yet, Kid?" I checked as I sauntered out of the building, Spartos trailing in my wake like a flower with a broken stem. All floppy and droopy and shit.

"Ok, that's a little too calm," I remarked, stopping in my tracks. He drowsily bumped into the back of my legs and blinked in surprise.

 _Oh geez._

"What's wrong?" I asked irritably.

"N-Nothi-" he started. Even his voice drooped.

"Don't give me that crap," I snorted, dragging him to the nearest bench and seating us both down. "I've seen hairdos standing straighter and taller than you are right now. It's like someone liquified your spine and you haven't looked at anything but your shoes since we started walking."

"H-Hairdos...?"

Spartos spluttered indignantly as I poked him in the head a few times, just to check if he was still working up there.

"I-I'm fine!" He exclaimed.

"Really?" I gave him a stink-eye. "'Cause your brother's alive and well and his continued-living is looking pretty solid yet you look like someone's thrown your puppy over a cliff."

"Th-Thrown my... where do you come up with these expressions?" He pouted but I caught the glint of amusement in his eyes and grinned. "You're weird."

"Eh? My expressions are fantastically thought out, ya know? You should appreciate my brilliant intellect more," I grouched, messing up his hair for fun.

He quickly smoothed it down again with a small smile.

"So? Got a problem I can fix?" I prompted again. His smile faltered a bit and I blinked. "That serious, huh? Fuck."

"Father says swearing is only for heathens because it's inappropriate and distasteful," Spartos announced. _Ooh, big words._

"I am a pretty inappropriate, distasteful heathen," I agreed without hesitation, "and you're dodging my question, Kid. If you don't want to tell me, then say so. I don't see the need in beating around the bush."

He fell silent for a short while. I yawned and stretched my arms above my head, feeling a few bones here and there pop.

"He's gonna leave, isn't he?" Spartos murmured.

I stayed quiet, adopting a more pensive look as I let him continue on his own.

"My brother, he's gonna go with that purple-haired guy, right? And he's gonna leave," Spartos started tearing up and I blanched.

 _Fuck, I was not ready for this karma, why did I do this, I wasn't ready-_

"Oi, Kid, stop it with the crying already!" I squirmed uncomfortably. "What did your brother say about this anyway?"

He sniffled and blinked blankly at me. "My brother...?"

"Yeah, what'd he say?" The tears were drying up. I was just relieved the tears were drying up. I was not equipped or emotionally mature enough to deal with some five-year-old's tears. ( _Is he five? Maybe he's eight? Eleven...? Shit, I'm so bad at this age crap_ )

"I, uh, h-haven't..."

I stared at the tiny redhead incredulously. "You have talked to your brother about this, right?"

He hesitated, then shook his head shyly. Judging by the embarrassed red blush creeping across his face, he hadn't even thought of doing so. "I d-don't want to worry him..."

"So your plan was to just wait until all your emotions came bursting out at the last minute before he leaves," I deadpanned.

The tears returned. _Ah, fuck._

"Look, Kid, go talk to your brother, like, as soon as all this is over. That should be like step one," I admonished. "He's the one you really want to have the heart-to-heart with, right? No point telling me if you haven't even told him."

Spartos sniffed and looked at me, eyes still watery. "W-What if he thinks I'm just a nuisance?"

"He's a dork. Of course, he won't think you're a nuisance."

The kid was clearly having trouble linking those two points together.

"I mean," I elaborated forcefully, "a dork like him wouldn't call you a nuisance. If anything, he'll blubber about how it's all his fault and how you'll definitely meet again and how much he loves you, etcetera, etcetera. You'll see. I'm actually a pretty good judge of character, ya know?"

Spartos still looked unsure but he nodded anyway. "Ok, I-I'll tell him! The next time I see him!"

"That's it, Kid," I cheered. "Now how about I bring you to my friend's bar until this all blows over. I could really use a drink or five..."

"Father says drinking is unnecessary and that it promotes an unhealthy, undisciplined lifestyle."

"Yeah, well, your father has a stick up somewhere unnecessary, unhealthy and undisciplined so don't you talk smack about my drinking."

"What do you mean?"

"I, uh... I'll explain it when you're older..."

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"I still can't believe you brought the Knight-King's eight-year-old son to my bar," Omaira chuckled.

"I still can't believe you're not over the fact that I brought the brat here," I retorted, downing my third pint of booze.

"You're so inexperienced with kids, Raida," she sighed, placing a hand on her cheek dramatically. "I don't understand at all. I mean, you practically are one."

"Oi, it's fine as long as I don't get drunk, right?" I chortled.

"You poor dear," Omaira cooed at the kid, smiling reassuringly. "Honestly, Raida, you could at least afford to show some manners. He seems like he's had a rough day."

Spartos sat between us, eyes nervously darting from me to Omaira and back again. His posture was stiff and upright, he clearly had no idea what to do in the presence of the enthusiastic stranger.

Omaira had been bursting with the urge to share more gossip when they'd first arrived but calmed the moment she saw the little redhead tagging along behind me. Seating us on a little table near the back of the workplace, the darling angel of a girl hadn't asked any questions. She'd just gotten a small cup of water for Spartos and taken a seat on the other side of him as soon as she got a break.

I could see Spartos was slowly relaxing, a visible change, in the infectiously soothing aura that was Omaira's presence.

The barmaid must've been bursting with so many questions but she pushed them all down in favour of making sure the kid was ok before anything.

A much better person than I could ever be.

"You're leaving soon too, aren't you," Omaira finally said, her happy expression turning a little sad at the statement that was certainly not a question. Spartos' eyes widened and he whipped around to face me.

"I am," I confirmed calmly. "I've spent more than enough time here."

"Are you going with your friends?" She questioned.

"Unfortunately," I snorted.

"That's good." She nodded firmly. "You're far too lonely to be leaving on your own."

"You can read everyone at a glance, can't you Omaira," I breathed, considering a fourth pint at this rate.

"You give me too much credit," Omaira spoke demurely. "It's not that hard to tell. We're friends after all, right?

"Of course."

"W-Wait," Spartos squawked, interrupting our conversation frantically. "R-Raida! You're leaving too?!"

I paused to smile at him. "I'm a traveller, Kid. That's what I do."

"B-But you'll come back one day, right?" His lower lip quivered a little and I laughed nervously.

"Oi, crying's unfair," I said, tapping the side of his head gently with my knuckles. "I can't promise anything, Kid, but it's a possibility, sure."

"Promise," Spartos demanded.

"I just said I can't promise any-"

" _Promise_." He was steadfast for an eight-year-old.

I spent a moment longer staring him down before I realised it was futile.

"Damn, I'm such a bad influence," I sighed. "Yeah, ok Kid. You got me. I promise to try."

A compromise. He seemed satisfied, if not still a little bummer ( _aww, I feel the love_ ) and returned to staring thoughtfully at his water. I scowled at him while he wasn't looking, earning a snicker from Omaira's direction.

If only the brat wasn't so cute... I was quickly learning that even this body had weaknesses and cute brats was definitely at the top of the list.

 _The little menace._

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

My parting with Omaira wasn't anything big. It didn't need to be. She knew where she stood and I knew I was welcome back anytime. A drink and a hug was enough for now.

I found the crew of idiots at the front gates, preparing to leave. One last piece of gossip from a friend, the departure date of the strange foreigners who fought the Knight-King and lived.

They seemed surprised to see me.

"Aatiq, what are you doing here?" Ponytail asked in surprise.

"My name's Raida," I corrected first and foremost. "I haven't been Aatiq in a while. And I'm coming with you. Obviously."

"Y-You are?!" They all exclaimed in unison.

I frowned. "Huh... did I forget to tell you...? Ok, well, I'm coming with you."

There was some mixed reactions, much to my annoyance.

"That's great, right guys?" Blue smiled tentatively, turning to the other two.

Sinbad and Jafar sulked, muttering darkly to themselves. "... demon lady... crazy... of course _she's_ coming..."

I cracked my knuckles. "Let's hear a better welcome than that, you pathetic brats."

"Yayyy!" They all plastered on wide, though a tad strained around the edges, smiles and cheered.

 _Oh, how I love the smell of terror and obedience in the morning._

"Well, ready to go then?" I adjusted my pack, filled with my necessities for travelling, ready to depart.

"Not quite yet," Jafar shook his head. "We're just waiting on-"

"Sinbad, thanks for waiting!" A familiar voice cut the shortie off and I quirked an eyebrow in interest. _Oh yeah, totally forgot about him._

"Dork," I greeted as Mystras rocked up. "You're late."

"Didn't you just arrive too...?" Sinbad mumbled irritably. Without sparing him a glance, I not-so-subtly landed a solid punch on his arm. He yelped and wisely stopped talking.

"Sorry," Mystras apologised. "I was just finishing up my goodbyes. I was given a mission and thus special permission to leave the-"

"Bored," I declared. "I'm ready to goooo! I've been in Sasan wayyy too long, longer than I'd planned!"

"Now I can finally leave... it's like a dream," Mystras murmured to himself. I paused at the look of pure dreamy joy that crossed his face. _How... human. (Obviously. Just because you're not-)_

"Oh? I understand how happy you must be to leave, but I'll be puttin' you to work," Sinbad warned, throwing an arm around the knight with a smirk. "As part of my alliance with Sasan, we formed a trade agreement. You're gonna be in charge of all contact with Sasan."

Just as Mystras began to panic at the responsibility Sinbad was dumping on him all of a sudden, he was interrupted.

"Brother! Please wait!" The dork's eyebrows shot up in surprise as Spartos hurtled into sight. Then his expression softened and I knew Spartos had had that chat with his brother after all.

 _Good for them._

"B-Brother!" Spartos gasped, stopping to take a breath before throwing himself at his sibling.

"Spartos?" Mystras blinked. "What are you doing here?"

"I-I wanted to say goodbye," the kid blubbered.

"Hey, don't worry, Spartos." Mystras beamed. "I said we'll see each other again, right?"

 _Called it. Dork._

Spartos nodded, hesitated, then lunged for me too. Both Mystras and I wavered in surprise as the kid latched on around my waist. I definitely twitched though as his tears and snot rubbed into my clothes. _Urgh, this is why I should just avoid children. They're always getting some form of bodily fluid on you._

The others watched in amusement.

"Uh," I deadpanned, looking to them for help, "there's a brat hugging me."

"Aww, Raida, it's been so long since we've seen your softer side," Sinbad remarked, clearly enjoying this way too much. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"That's because I don't have one," I stated. _I did but I sure as hell wasn't going to tell those morons that._

Looking down at the brat, I stayed completely still. He was looking up at me with those little eyes and goddamn it, I left him there, clinging to me like a happy sloth ( _again_ ).

"Miss Raida, thank you for keeping me company!" He exclaimed, his words muffled by my stomach. "You... You'll take care of my brother, won't you?"

I stiffened and looked back at my allies for assistance. They all had teary eyes and collectively shook their heads in pride.

' _What a reliable big sister you'd make!'_ They thought loudly.

 _Assholes_.

I promised them a thousand painful deaths with my eyes. They all shivered fearfully in unison.

' _Yes, be afraid,_ ' I spat internally at them. Slowly, I forced the violence from my gaze to look back at Spartos.

"Uh, yeah brat, sure," I grunted, patting his head while I subtly tried to budge his arms. For a brat, he was surprisingly strong ( _and good at wringing out promises from me_ ).

I faltered, then rested my hand on his head. "There, there."

"Omaira was right," he mumbled. "You're really awkward with kids."

"And that's enough of that," I announced, firmly pulling him off me. For a moment, he dangled in the air, hanging from my hands like a ragdoll before I set him down beside his brother again. "I'll miss you too, Kid. See you around."

Spartos hung around a bit longer before we decided to depart. I granted him one last ruffle of his hair and a wave before we set off. The kid stayed at the front gates, waving until we were long out of sight.

"Spartos talked about you a lot," Mystras commented as we walked.

"Yeah?" I said absently.

"You helped him come out of his shell a bit," he acknowledge. "Thanks for looking out for him."

I shot him a look out of the corner of my eye. "My pleasure, Dork."

We left Sasan far behind us and I didn't look back, not for a second.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

 **Yes, I did just sweep through the entire Sasan arc in one chapter. Do I regret it? Nah. Yeah, she didn't really have too much action here but you do get a mega-glimpse at her soft side and weakness - kids. She is not going to have fun in the future (but I will). Anyway, we'll be splitting from canon fairly soonish. Probably. Well, we'll see. Can't be too many more chapters but these things keep getting longer than I expected...**

 **I'm also so happy to find that a lot of my reviewers like Aatiq/Raida/Little Rukh! (This name thing is going to mess me up in the future so much, I can tell) She really is a fun character to write, probably one of my favourites. I think I'll just call her Little Rukh for now (credit to Akira D. Ryusuke) since it'll be pretty obvious who I'm talking about no matter what name she changes to.**

 **Until next time!**

 **\- Dragon**


	8. Birds of the Same Feather

**I've returned! Phew, things got real busy, real fast. Life just slapped me in the face, you know? Anyway, I managed another chapter, decent-sized (though not as long as some of the previous ones). But first, my favourite... reviews~!**

 **Dame Amaryllis - Heheh, yeah, I've always planned to introduce some comedy and general fluffiness with Little Rukh and the many little kiddies that pop up in AoS. (Seriously everyone is so tiny and cute, how could I not?) I'm happy to know you're enjoying it so far!**

 **Lady Silverfox aka charita rai - Wow, you're thinking way ahead! I'll admit, I've considered quite a few different outcomes for Sinbad's and Little Rukh's whole relationship and that is one of the possibilities I've seriously thought about, but beyond that... I guess you'll just have to wait and see! ;3**

 **twistedlittledoll - Yayyy, thanks so much! I'm happy you're enjoying it still! And those are some really good guesses (like really good, damn) but I don't wanna give away too much right now so I won't confirm anything just yet! As for her and Sinbad's relationship, I have considered so many possibilities... sorry, guess you'll just have to wait and see! I'll try to keep my updates coming too so I can start answering more of these questions sooner**

 **Keelan1210 - I'm glad you're enjoying it! Yeah, I have a bit of a love for more unique characters. I find that the more unique and creative a character, the more unique and creative the story becomes! Just one of my many theories on how to keep my writing original and interesting. Please let me know if it keeps working (or if it doesn't) and thanks for reviewing**

 **Reviews are my favourite thing in the world! Please, keep the reviews coming! Beyond the helpful feedback they provide, whether they're positive or not so positive, they also keep me motivated to pump out more chapters and whatnot (of course, I'll always try to keep pumping out chapters but reviews really do help) and they make my day! Anyway, I'll get on with the chapter but pretty please, let me know what you think!**

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"Jafar."

"Yes, Raida?"

"Are we there yet?"

"We literally set sail an hour ago."

"So that's a no?"

"That's a no."

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"Jafar."

"Yes, Raida?"

"Are we there yet?"

"It's been a day. I told you it'll take a while to get there. Artemyra is in the southeastern part of the continent after all and-"

"Yeah, yeah, got it. I'm gonna go nap."

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"Oi, Jafar."

"Yes, Raida?"

"Are we there yet?"

"... you've asked me that like ten times."

"I have? Hmm... so that's a no?"

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"Jafar."

A sigh.

"Yes, Raida?"

"Are we there yet?"

"No, Raida."

"Ok."

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"Hey, Jafar?"

"What now?"

"Are we there-?"

"No, Raida, as I have answered many times already, we are not there yet."

"Right."

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"Jafar."

" _What?_ "

"Are we there yet?"

"No. Please stop asking me that."

"Oh, ok."

"Thank god..."

"But like, what about now?"

He groaned and thunked his head against the nearest wall.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"Hey, Jafar?"

Silence.

"Jafar..."

Nothing.

"Jafaaaarrrrr~"

A whimper.

"Oi Pipsqueak!"

 **Snap!**

"What?! What do you want?! Why are you doing this to me?!"

"Uh, are you ok?"

"I'm fine! I'm perfectly fine! I survived years of harsh training and became a trained assassin at the tender age of six! I have dealt with countless situations far more stressful and I am the trusted right-hand of a future king who repeatedly gets himself into trouble! This will not break me! _You will not break me!_ "

"Uh, ok, cool... so, like, are we there yet or is this a bad time?"

"Do you see Artemyra?"

"No...?"

" _Then we're not there yet, are we?!_ "

"Ah, that makes sense. Let me know when you see it then."

"Look for it yourself!"

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"Hey, Jafar? Do we-"

"NO!" The boy snapped, his face an angry shade of red and hands tugging at his white hair in agony. "WE ARE NOT THERE YET!"

I snickered, sitting crosslegged on the ship's deck. "I was just going to ask if we have any snacks."

There was a brief second of silence before the former assassin launched himself at me, practically foaming at the mouth. Mystoras quickly intervened, wrapping his arms around Jafar's torso and digging his heels in to hold him back. "Wait, Jafar! You can't kill a fellow comrade!"

"I won't kill her!" Jafar howled. "I'll just throw her overboard! If she thinks she can get to Artemyra faster, the little shit can swim there herself!"

I chortled at the sight, not even bothering to hide my mischievous expression. Nearby, Hinahoho sighed and sent a half-sheepish, half-disapproving look in my direction.

"You really shouldn't tease him so much," he admonished.

I smirked, flopping onto my back and stretching out on the warm wood. "Who, me? I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about."

"Run, Raida, run!" Mystoras shouted frantically. "I can't hold him back anymore!"

"She's the devil!" Jafar yelled.

"Geez, I leave you guys alone for half an hour..." Sinbad appeared on the deck, running a hand through his purple locks. He immediately scowled at me. "Raida, please stop teasing Jafar. And Jafar, don't let her get to you so much. You guys are acting like kids."

Everyone paused and sweatdropped, staring awkwardly in his direction. ' _Like you're one to talk...!_ '

"Eh, it's just so boring!" I complained, splaying out in the sunlight, my white hair spread out around me. Surprisingly, my hair reflected the light quite well, giving it almost shimmering effect during the day. It was something I hadn't really noticed until just before I reached Sasan.

 _White wings, a river of light-_

 _Right. I guess it's a Rukh thing._

"There's nothing to do on this stupid ship!" I whined, my thoughts snapping back to the conversation at hand.

"You really need to find a healthier outlet for your boredom," Blue commented as Jafar fumed and Mystoras grimaced at his cramping arms.

"Like what? There's nothing but oceans for bloody mi-"

"Land ahoy!"

I bolted upright, eyes sparkling with excitement. "Fucking finally!"

I raced to the front of the ship, Mystoras and Sinbad both joining me there and we watched like children watching a magic show as the ship approached the land and entered a huge ravine covered in exotic plants.

"Amazing...!" We gasped in awe.

"According to these scrolls, it looks like there should be a break in the coast up ahead, and past that the only way to continue is on foot," Jafar announced, as his responsible mode switched on and he pulled out a scroll from somewhere ( _where was he keeping that thing, what the actual hell-_ ). "We should make careful preparations-"

"Mystoras, Raida! Look at those plants!"

"I've never seen anything like this before!"

"Do you think those vines could hold my weight?"

Everyone stopped and looked at me in confusion.

"What kind of question is that?" Jafar said. I blinked at him innocently before turning back to the vines. He twitched. "Don't just ignore me!"

Deciding that, yes, they looked strong enough to support me, I hoisted myself over the railings. Only Blue seemed to realise what I was planning and he yelled, "Raida, don't-"

But he was too late. I went straight over the side and splashed into the water. The cold chill hit me hard, and I let myself float back up, using my momentum to get as close to the cliffs as possible before resurfacing.

"Raida, what the hell?!" Ponytail's voice echoed from behind me but I paid them no mind as I tested a vine dangling in the water with a hard tug. It held and I grinned.

I promptly began to scale the cliff, using little niches and footholds in the cliff where there weren't enough vines. At one point, I ran out of both and ended up palming a dagger and wedging it into the cliffs to pull myself up. I faintly picked up on Mystoras' ( _nope, too long, I'll call him Dork_ ) and Ponytail's voices as I continued to climb.

"Is she...?"

"Yep."

"And does she often do this...?"

"Yep."

"Oh. She's a bit, uh, ecc-"

"Crazy. She's crazy."

"Should we stop her...?"

"You can try."

Finally, I reached the top and shuffled to my left a bit until I reached one of the multiple vines crisscrossing overhead, stretching from one side of the ravine to the other. I tested it with my foot first, pressing down until I was sure it could hold me.

Then, hiding my dagger away, I laughed victoriously as I casually strolled out towards the centre of the ravine, balancing easily on the vine like a tightrope walker.

Blue and Dork panicked at the sight, the latter running around with his arms out as the ship passed underneath me. _I think he's trying to catch me if I fall...? Aww, how sweet._

Ponytail simply sighed, having accepted my antics while Jafar screeched something incoherent at the sight and I childishly stuck my tongue out at him. _I don't know what he just said but I'm sure it was rude somehow._

"Come on," I called down to them with a smug grin, "where's your sense of adventure?!"

Dork and Blue both sweatdropped.

"I wanna try!" Ponytail suddenly grinned, getting a foot up on the railings.

Jafar tackled him to the ground before he throw himself overboard. "Absolutely not!"

The ship continued to sail along and I followed, sometimes skipping along the very edge of the cliff, sometimes hopping from vine to vine like a monkey. This was a much more entertaining way to travel than by ship. More peaceful too.

We were barely halfway along though, when Ponytail noticed something behind me and started pointing and yelling in shock. The others noticed what he saw and they too started yelling and pointing.

I'd barely just turned to see what all the fuss was about when a shadow fell over me and the biggest bird I've ever seen flew directly overhead. The wind nearly knocked me clean off my vine and I quickly crouched to regain my balance, ready to take hold of the vine with my hands if I did fall.

I watched curiously as the bird levelled near the ship and squinted. _Were those... people riding the giant bird?_

I gasped in excitement and started hopping between vines to get directly overhead. I was missing out and _riding a giant bird looks fun!_

I pouted as the bird pulled away just as I got near, flying on ahead before I could even get their attention. _Damn. I wanted to ride it so bad..._

 _Oh well, better see what all that was about..._

"Heads up!" I shouted, cupping my hands around my mouth as I got the others' attention. They all looked up and simultaneously blanched as I bent my knees and jumped.

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod-"

"Raida, no!"

"Catch her, catch her, catch her!"

I arced in the air and did a few flips ( _because I wouldn't be me if I passed up an opportunity to show off a little_ ) before landing hard on my feet in their midst. It was probably the loud bang I made on impact that freaked them out the most but I merely straightened up and laughed at their stunned expressions. These idiots never learn, I'm way stronger than some puny human. I wouldn't die from something this weak.

Of course, I cushioned my landing by reinforcing my entire body with magoi too but that's unimportant.

As soon as it was clear that I wasn't harmed or in any pain whatsoever, Jafar greeted me with a firm slap on the back of my head.

"Stop climbing and jumping off of cliffs!" He scolded. I beamed and batted him away in amusement.

"Ah, stop worrying so much," I exclaimed. "Learn to have some fun! Anyway, what was with the chicks and the bird?"

"They were inhabitants of Artemyra," Ponytail explained with a suspiciously charming smile. _I knew that expression..._

I peered at him suspiciously. "You hit on them, didn't you... perv..."

"I am not!" He protested, reaching out as though to strangle me.

I laughed and hopped back out of his reach. "Don't stress about it, Ponytail, everyone here knows you're super pervy!"

"That's true," Blue nodded.

"He flirts with every girl we see," Jafar confirmed.

"Sinbad's a real man," Mystoras gave a thumbs up as though to reassure him.

"Traitors," Sinbad grumbled, twitching at the sheer betrayal.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

We docked soon after that and Ponytail and Dork both charged ahead, ignoring our warnings to preserve energy. We caught up within minutes though.

"Told you not to run, didn't I?" I snickered nearly an hour later as Sinbad trembled beside me. He'd even picked up a large stick from somewhere and was using it as a walking stick. "But do you ever listen to me? Nooo, you just had to run. Too excited about perving on innocent girls to pay attention. Take a good whiff, pervert, this is what karma smells like."

"N-No fair..." Sinbad moaned. "Jafar looks fine... so does Mystoras... and you..."

He did a double-take and shoved an accusing finger in my direction. "You're not even sweating, you monster!"

I smirked. "I don't sweat."

"Everybody sweats, how are you not sweaty or tired, this is bull-" Sinbad ranted in disbelief. Halfway through though, he stopped mid-sentence and slumped over. "Urgh, no good. No energy."

I watched in fascination as he visibly withered before my eyes, leaning against his stick for support. "Wah, what a weak king."

"Shut up, you-!"

"Raida," Jafar sighed. "Please stop teasing Sinbad. You're both being childish."

I sidled up to him with a cheeky smile. "And who was it who was threatening to throw me overboard...? Earlier today even..."

Jafar ground his teeth together and refused to meet my eyes. I chuckled and skipped ahead. I'd been itching to move for ages, being stuck on that ship and all, and that little rock climb from earlier had really put me in a good mood. As such, I was probably the only one in the good mood at the moment.

At least Ponytail didn't look nearly as bad as Blue. Poor guy, he was really not built for this climate. I don't think he even noticed as I patted his shoulder reassuringly.

"She's enjoying this way too much," Ponytail muttered ruefully under his breath.

My head whipped around and I sent him a sickly sweet smile. "Hmmm...?"

"N-Nothing!" He yelped, ducking behind the closest wall of protection, Mystoras.

 _That's what I thought._ I hummed as I turned back and we pressed onwards.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

Barely twenty minutes later, Ponytail began to chuckle under his breath. I sent him an odd look in response as he firmly grasped his sword.

 _Oh geez, Sinbad's lost it. It didn't take more then a hot day and a hike but he's officially off his bonkers. Great._

"I just realised something..." Sinbad smirked. My expression became extremely unimpressed as he djinn-equipped with a flash before I suddenly fixated on something else. "If I do a djinn equip, I can fly."

I wandered over behind him as he crowed about his plan to ditch us, and observed the scaly appendage. It was definitely real.

"Like this, I can easily pass through the ravine just like those girls riding that- Raida!" Ponytail cut himself off with a squawk as I reached out and latched onto it.

 _Djinn equips can be so weird... where is it even coming from? His butt? His legs are all scaly too so is it all-?_

Sinbad froze, momentarily turning to stone, as I flipped up the back of his clothing with an interested hum.

"Raida, what-?!" Mystoras squeaked, turning bright red. I didn't even get to see anything anyway before Sinbad gave a shout of surprise and leapt away.

There was a brief moment of stunned silence before Sinbad and Mystoras suddenly huddled together nearby, trembling under a cloud of gloom while Sinbad hugged his tail to his chest like a traumatised child with a teddy bear.

"This is the first time I've felt so violated..."

"Tell me about it... to think Raida was that kind of person, I had no idea..."

"What?" I shrugged in response to the questioning stares from the others. "He grew a tail! Am I really the only one who got curious about that?"

"B-But you can't just-" Jafar stammered.

I blinked slowly, not quite getting it. "Why not?"

There was another pause before Jafar quickly joined the depressed corner with the others. "I'm not equipped to deal with this... I'm only ten after all... someone else can teach the psychopath about the birds and the bees..."

"Birds and the bees?" I parroted. A lightbulb went off in my head. "Oh, I get it! You guys are disturbed 'cause you think I'm interested in his-"

Blue slapped a large palm over my mouth, muffling my words. "I think you've made this awkward enough."

I tilted my head inquisitively but decided to stop talking for now. Sensing my acceptance, Blue removed his hand.

 _It seems this is a weird topic for humans for whatever reason. I'll keep that in mind and find out more later._

Sinbad cleared his throat and subtly edged away from me. "Well, I'm just gonna fly on ahead, I'll see you guys a-"

He was barely three feet off the ground when familiar strings wrapped around him and slammed him to the ground. _Ouch._

Jafar started mumbling under his breath, seemingly annoyed at Sinbad's action as Ponytail twitched nervously at his dangerous tone.

"You're not the only one who's tired," Jafar hissed, looking positively murderous. "Everyone else is quiet and continuing to walk, moreover, even I'm feeling hot and _very irritated!_ "

"Jafar... y-you're stra-ack! You're strangling... me...!"

" **Bararaq Sei!** "

"Oh my," I observed from the side with the others. "Jafar's reverted to his old assassin ways, it seems. How sad."

"You look way too happy to be saying that," Blue deadpanned, cautiously eying the gleeful smile stretching across my face.

Mystoras was very pale as he watched Jafar beat some sense into the purple-haired idiot and glanced at me. "Uh, Raida...? M-Maybe you should stop him before he kills our leader...?"

I pondered the idea. Well, it was probably my fault Jafar wasn't relenting or holding back in the end. It did seem like he was taking the chance to take out his irritation both from earlier and now on the unwilling victim that was our future king.

 _But it was just so amusing to watch...?_

 _Ah, bad Raida. I'm here to keep the idiot alive after all._

I sighed forlornly before nodding. "I guess... I'll stop them."

I drifted over to the fight and glanced at them both, wondering how I could put an end to the fight in one go. My eyes fixated on the string connecting them.

 _Oh, but lightning... well, as good a time as any to test this out..._

Quick as a flash, I shielded my hand in a thick layer of white light and latched onto the string, tensing as I waited for the electricity to burn through my skin.

 _Huh, it kind of tickles._

Grinning, I yanked on it, pulling a surprised Jafar and Sinbad in closer. As soon as they were in arms reach, I let go of the string and brought my fists down on their heads with a yell. "Cut it out!"

They dropped like stones and I dusted myself off, pleased with my achievement.

 _Nothing tastes better than a healthy dose of victory with a dash of unnecessary violence~_

"What the hell, Raida?!" Jafar whimpered, clutching his head.

"What are your fists made of, stone?!" Sinbad joined in, already having let his djinn equip vanish at some point.

I laughed awkwardly as I realised I still had a thin cover of light covering my hands. To put it in perspective, hitting them with my reinforced fists was probably akin to... slamming a steel stick on their heads?

 _Oops_. I quickly dispersed the light and tucked my hands behind my back, whistling innocently. "Don't be such babies."

"The devil..." They groaned in response.

"See? I told you, I heard the distressed cry of a girl!" We all jolted in surprise as a shadow fell over the group.

My eyes brightened at the sight of another giant bird descending towards us. Three young blondes were perched on its back, peering curiously at us. The youngest was pointing in my direction excitedly, most likely the speaker.

"You're right, poor girl!" The girl at the front exclaimed. "Being forced to suffer in the company of four men, no less! No wonder she was screaming in distress!"

"Hey, we're the victims here," Sinbad grumbled softly, climbing to his feet. I sent him a warning glare that he didn't see.

The youngest girl gave me a large wave. "Hey pretty girl, do you need a ride?! You're heading for Artemyra too, right?"

The front one scoffed. "Where else would she be heading? Anyway, we can get you there much faster!"

I perked up cheerily. "Sounds great!"

"N-No way!" Ponytail exclaimed. He quickly spun me around to face him and place his hands on my shoulders with a look of disbelief. "R-Raida, you wouldn't abandon your comrades and old friends, would you...?"

Everyone else's expression flattened because, well, _that was a stupid question._

"... Fuck it, I don't work for you," I slipped through his grasp and ran to the edge of the path with a wide grin. "You girls got enough room?"

The middle girl giggled. "Plenty!"

I hoisted myself up with an idle wave over my shoulder and settled in between the middle girl and the youngest. "See you up there, suckers!"

"Traitorrrrrr...!" Ponytail's cries echoed through the ravine, covering my cackles as we took off towards Artemyra.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"This is your first visit to Artemyra, right?"

"We rarely get visitors, especially fellow pretty girls like you!"

"Wah, this white hair is so beautiful! Do a lot of people have white hair where you're from?"

"Are those silver eyes natural? They're like mirrors!"

"I only have blue eyes, I'm so envious!"

"Is it true you're travelling with _four_ men?!"

My eyes spun as questions assaulted me from all directions. It was pretty evident that Artemyrans weren't used to outsiders and they were getting a bit too excited. Barely minutes after we'd landed, I'd been swarmed by curious girls who wanted to know everything about me. Apparently my different hair and eye colour was a dead giveaway that I wasn't from here.

"Stop crowding her," one girl piped up, scolding the others as another one weaselled her way through to force some space between me and the crowd. I took a deep breath and took the opportunity to breathe free air as the two newcomers gradually convinced the rest to let me go.

"Are you ok?" The one who'd served as a wall gently took my hand, and I swore she sparkled as she smiled at me. "Sorry about that, we get so excited when we get new (female) foreigners around here! I hope you won't let this cloud your judgment of Artemyra, we're usually more accomodating to (female) travellers than this!"

 _She does keep saying female right...?_ I wondered, peering closer. _I'm not imagining it?_

"It's fine," I recovered quickly, dusting myself off as I cast an awe-filled glance at my surroundings. Artemyra was quite pretty to look at, after all. "The sights more than make up for it. It's an impressive place you have here."

"Thanks!" The girl beamed and I was temporarily blinded by the beauty. "I'm Sirena. This is Paidi."

She gestured to the other girl, who was also beautiful but in a more wild way. Paidi looked like a warrior where Sirena looked like a fairy.

They both sweatdropped awkwardly as I stared at them intensely. _What is in the water here...?_

"What kind of hair product do you guys use?" I blurted out, scrutinising their fluffy, shining waves. "I seriously need some of that shit."

"Oh that?" Sirena chirped Bashfully. "It's an Artemyran secret!"

"You can tell me," I said seriously, taking Sirena's hands in mine and channeling as much playboy Sinbad as possible. It was a real blow to my pride _but I want that secret._

My hair might reflect light but I had yet to figure out how to achieve that nice fluffiness that every girl in Artemyra seemed to have achieved.

"Tell you what," Paidi intervened, throwing an arm around my shoulders with a cheeky grin. "We're on our break right now, so if you buy us some drinks, we'll give you our secret, yeah?"

I considered it carefully. _I mean, technically the coins I had in pocket weren't mine, they were Sinbad's and only for emergencies, so I really shouldn't-_

"Deal," I cheered. "Lead the way, girls."

Paidi and Sirena beamed and linked arms with me, dragging me to the nearest bar.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"A-And then the little baby chicks hatched and they were so beautiful, Paidi, so beautiful~!" Sirena, it seemed, was a total lightweight.

"Another round over here!" Paidi, on the other hand, was not.

"Don't you girls have jobs to go to," the bar owner sighed, pouring us some more drinks anyway. Isadora, the bar owner, was far more down to earth than the other Artemyrans I'd met so far.

"We're on a break!" Paidi cheered in response, raising her cup and tapping it against mine.

"Yeah, they've promised to show me around after this too," I added, chugging my own drink and holding it out for a refill. Isadora rolled her eyes and poured me some more.

"Whatever you say," she chuckled.

"Isadora," Sirena mumbled tearily as the woman refilled her cup too, "you're so nice. I love you, you know that? I love you soooo much."

"You always say that until you get that hangover in the morning," Isadora pointed out in amusement.

"Ah, Artemyra's great!" I announced, waving my half-full cup around. I turned to the blonde chick on my other side. "Isn't Artemyra great?!"

"Of course it is," the woman agreed with a sly smile, clunking our cups together. "Artemyra's my beloved home after all."

"It's so great," I exclaimed. "I should just stay here forever!"

"I'm sure we'd all welcome a lovely young lady like you," the woman purred, donning a wide grin.

"Of course you would," I sniffed. "I'm amazing, you know."

At that point, Paidi turned and gasped at the sight of who I was talking to. She ducked her head down. "Your m-"

The woman silenced her with a well-placed look and I blinked curiously. _Neat trick. She seems important._

 _Oh well._

"Another round of drinks," I cried out, gesturing to our cups. I pointed at the woman's cup as well once Isadora came around. "I'll buy her some drinks too!"

"Oh, a girl after my own heart," the woman grinned, finishing off what little she had left in her cup and letting Isadora fill it.

 _Eh, Sinbad'll get over it eventually._

"So, what's your business in Artemyra?" The woman chatted idly, propping her head on her palm. I eyed her badass tattoo along her right cheek. _Maybe I should get one...?_

"Ah, business, I guess...?" I mused. "I'm travelling with this idiot, I think he's a merchant now. He's hiking up the ravine still but he's looking to make some deal with the queen or something. I'm just tagging along, making sure he doesn't end up killing himself."

"Why aren't you helping him through the ravine then?" She wondered. "You know, plenty of travellers don't make it through there."

"Ah," I idly waved a hand. "If that much was enough to kill him, I wouldn't bother with that moron. He'll be fine."

"If you're looking to protect him, does that mean you're strong?" She asked, leaning forward in interest.

"Why?" I replied with a cheeky grin. "You looking for a fight?"

To my surprise, she tipped her head back and laughed. "Oh, I like you, girl! What's your name?"

I paused. I've been Raida for a while now... maybe it's time for a change.

"Saira," I answered. "You?"

"Mira Dianus Artemina, Queen of Artemyra," she introduced herself smugly.

I paused.

 _Huh. To be honest, I did not see that coming._

"Does that mean the next round's on you?" I replied tipsily.

She laughed again and I glanced over to see Sirena dozing peacefully on the bar and Paidi facepalming.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Mira cheered, calling for another round from Isadora, who looked particularly pleased at the sudden surge of business. "I'll have to return to the castle soon but I have time for another drink or two before I go."

"Oh, I think we're gonna be the best of friends, your majesty."

"Please, call me Mira."

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

 **Yep. I made her meet and befriend the queen of Artemyra in a bar. Because I can. Also, no matter how I look at both Little Rukh's and Mina's personalities, they were always going to get along really well so I figured, why not make it official? So now they're drinking buddies.**

 **Also, I like being mean to canon characters wayyy too much. Poor Jafar. Poor Yunan. They all just make it too easy...**

 **Anyway, sorry about the late update, life really just punched me in the face all of a sudden and I got way too busy. You can kind of tell from the quality of this chapter that I didn't spend as much time on editing but life doesn't look like it'll be letting up anytime soon and I figured, I should get this chapter out now while I have a moment to breathe before suddenly three months go by without an update. Anyway, I'll keep trying my best to keep 'em coming. I also might come back and edit this chapter some more in the future 'cause I'm not quite happy with it as is but meh. Pretty please review!**

 **Until next time**

 **\- Dragon**


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